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^UIBRARY 


DAVID       LIVINGSTONE. 


DICK   SAND; 


OE, 


A  CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN. 


A    NOVEL. 


By  JULES  VEENE. 


NEW  YORK:       ^ 

GEORGE    ^r  TT  N  R  0 ,    1'  u  n  l  i  s  n  e  r  , 

17  to  27  Vundowiiter  Street. 
1878. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1878,  by 

GEORGE  MUNRO, 
In  tbe  Office  of  the  Librarian  of   Congress  at  Washington. 


P9 


Jules  Verne's  Complete  Works, 

PUBLISHED   I2f 

THE  SEASIDE    LIBEARY. 


KO.  <^- 

5  The  Black  Indies 10 

16  The  English  at  the  North  Pole,  and  The  Field  of  Ice 10 

43  Hector  Servadac 10 

57  A  Voyage  liound  the  World— South  America 10 

60  A  Vo3-age  Round  the  World — Australia 10 

64  A  Voyage  Round  the  World — New  Zealand 10 

68  Five  Weeks  in  a  Balloon 10 

72  Meridiana,  and  The  Blockade  Runners 10 

75  The  Fur  Country 10 

84  20,000  Leagues  Under  the  Seas 10 

87  A  Journey  to  the  Center  of  the  Earth 10 

90  The  Mysterious  Island  —  Dropped  from  the  Clouds 10 

93  The  Mysterious  Island— The  Abandoned 10 

97  The  Mysterious  Island— The  Secret  of  the  Island 10 

99   From  the  Eartli  to  the  Moon  and  Around  the  Moon 10 

111  A  Tour  of  the  World  in  Eighty  Days 10 

131  Michael  Strogoll 10 


665909 


CONTENTS. 

PABT  I. 

CHAPTER  I.                                            Page. 
The  Brig-Schooiter  "Pilgrim." 9 

CHAPTER  IT. 
Dick  Sand 17 

CHAPTER  in. 
Tjie  Wreck 23 

CHAPTER  IV. 

TUE   SURTITORS   OF   THE    "  WaLDECK.  " 29 

CHAPTER  V. 
"S.  V." 34 

CHAPTER  VI. 
A  "Whale  ix  Sight 45 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PllEPAIiATIOKS 53 

CHAPTER  VJII. 

The  Jtjbarte 59 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Captain  S^vxd 67 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Four  Days  tvhich  Follow 74 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Temtest 83 

CHAPTER  XII. 
On  tjie  Horizon 93 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
LandI  Land » 101 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Bert  to  Do 110 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Ha  uuis 121 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
On  Tni:  Way , 132 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

A  HrNDiiEu  Miles  in  Tkn  Dayh 141 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Teriuble  Word 153 


VI.  COXTENTS. 

PAllT  II. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Slave  Trade 163 

CHAPTER  II. 
Hakbis  and  Negoro 172 

CHAPTER  III. 

Ox  THE   MaBCH 181 

CHAPTER  IV. 

TnE  Bad  Roads  of  Angola 190 

CHAPTER  V. 
Ants  and  theih  Dwelling 197 

CHAPTER  YI. 
The  DniNG-BELL 206 

CHAPTER  VII. 
In  Camp  on  the  Banks  of  the  Coanza 215 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Some  of  Dick  Sand's  Notes 223 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Kazounde 233 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Great  ]^Iarket-day 241 

CHAPTER  XL 
The  King  of  KLizouNDE  is  Offered  a  Punch 248 

CHAPTER  XII. 
A  Royal  Burial 255 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Interior  op  a  Factory 264 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Some  News  of  Dr.  Livingstone 271 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Where  a  LIanticore  may  Lead 281 

CHAPTER  XVL 

A  Magician 291 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Drifting 298 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Various  Incidents 305 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
"  S.  V. " 314 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Conclusion 321 


A  CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN. 

PART  I. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  BRIG-SCHOONER   *' PILGRIM." 

On"  February  2,  1873,  the  schooner  ''Pilgrim  "  was  in  lati- 
tude 43°  57'  south,  and  in  longitude  165°  19'  west  of  the 
meridian  of  Greenwich. 

Tliis  vessel,  of  four  hundred  tons,  fitted  out  at  San  Fran- 
cisco for  whale-fishing  in  the  southern  seas,  belonged  to 
James  W.  Weldon,  a  rich  C'alifornian  ship-owner,  who  had 
for  several  years  entrusted  the  command  of  it  to  Captain 
Hull. 

The  ''Pilgrim"  was  one  of  the  smallest,  but  one  of  tlie 
best  of  that  flotilla,  Avhicii  James  W.  Weldon  sent  each  sea- 
son, not  only  beyond  Behring  Strait,  as  far  as  the  northern 
seas,  but  also  in  the  quarters  of  Tasmania  or  of  Cape  Horn, 
as  far  as  the  Antarctic  Ocean.  She  sailed  in  a  superior  man- 
ner. Iler  very  easily  managed  rigging  permitted  her  to  vent- 
ure, with  few  men,  in  sight  of  the  impenetrable  fields  of  ice 
of  the  southern  hemisphere.  Captain  Hull  knew  how  to  dis- 
entangle himself,  as  the  sailors  say,  from  among  those  ice- 
bergs which,  during  the  summer,  drift  by  the  way  of  Kew 
Zealand  or  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  under  a  much  lower  lati- 
tude than  that  which  thev  reach  in  the  northern  seas  of  tlic 
globe.  It  is  true  tluit  only  jcebergs  of  small  dimensions  were 
found  there;  they  were  alrea<ly  worn  by  collisions,  enten  away 
by  the  warm  waters,  and  the  greater  number  of  them  were 
going  to  melt  in  the  Pacific  or  the  Atlautic. 


10  A    CArXAIX   AT  FIFTEEK. 

Under  the  conimaml  of  Captain  Hull,  a  good  seaman,  and 
also  one  of  the  most  skilful  harpooners  of  the  jflotilla,  was  a 
crow  coni]>osed  of  live  sailors  and  a  novice.  It  was  a  small 
niiinbor  for  this  •\vhalc-lishing,  ■which  requires  a  good  many 
]icrsons,  Men  arc  necessary  as  Avell  for  the  management  of 
tlio  hoats  for  the  attack,  as  for  the  cutting  up  of  the  captured 
animals.  Hut,  following  the  example  of  certain  ship-owners, 
.himcs  W.  Weldon  found  it  much  more  economical  to  cmhark 
at  San  Francisco  only  the  number  of  sailors  necessary  for  the 
management  of  the  vessel.  New  Zealand  did  not  lack  har- 
])ooners,  sailors  of  all  nationalities,  deserters  or  others,  who 
sought  to  be  hired  for  the  season,  and  who  followed  skilfully 
the  trade  of  lishermcn.  The  busy  period  once  over,  they  were 
]iaid.  they  were  i)ut  on  shore,  and'  tney  waited  till  the  whalers 
of  the  following  year  should  come  to  claim  their  services 
again.  There  was  obtained  by  this  method  better  work  from 
the  dis])osable  sailors,  and  a  much  larger  profit  derived  by 
their  co-o]ieration. 

They  had  worked  in  this  way  on  board  the  ''Pilgrim." 

The  schooner  had  just  finished  her  season  on  the  limit  of 
the  Antarctic  Circle.  But  she  had  not  her  full  number  of 
barrels  of  oil,  of  coarse  whalebones  nor  of  fine.  Even  at  that 
period,  fishing  was  becoming  difficult.  The  whales,  pursued 
to  excess,  were  becoming  rare.  The  "right "  whale,  which 
bears  the  name  of  "North  Caper"  in  the  Northern  Ocean, 
and  that  of  '*  Sulphur  Bottom  "  in  the  South  Sea,  was  likely 
to  disappear.  The  whalers  had  been  obliged  to  fall  back  on 
llie  finback  or  jubarte,  a  gigantic  mammifer,  whose  attacks 
are  not  without  danger. 

This  is  what  Captain  Hull  had  done  during  this  cruise;  but 
on  his  next  voyage  he  calculated  on  reachmg  a  higher  lati- 
tude, and,  if  necessary,  going  in  sight  of  C'larie  and  Adelie 
Lands,  whose  discovery,  contested  by  the  American  AVilkes, 
certainly  belongs  to  the  illustrious  commander  of  the  "Astro- 
labe ''  and  the  Zelee,  to  the  Frenchman,  Dumont  d'  Urville. 

In  fact,  the  season  had  not  been  favorable  for  the  "  Pil- 
grim.*' In  the  beginning  of  January,  that  is  to  say,  toward 
the  middle  of  the  Southern  summer,  and  even  when  the  time 
for  the  whalers  to  return  had  not  yet  arrived.  Captain  Hull 
had  been  obliged  to  abandon  the  fishing  places.  His  addi- 
tional crew — a  ojllection  of  jirctty  sad  subjects — gave  him  an 
excuse,  as  they  sav,  and  he  determined  to  separate  from  them. 

The  "Pilgrim''  then  steered  to  the  northwest,  for  New 


JL   CAPTAIX   AT   riFTEEX.  11 

Zealand,  which  she  sighted  on  the  15th  of  January.  She 
arrived  at  Waiteniata,  port  of  Auckland,  situated  at  the  Iotv- 
est  end  of  the  Gulf  of  Chouraki,  on  the  east  coast  of  the 
northern  island,  and  landed  the  fishermen  "who  had  been  en- 
gaged for  the  season. 

The  crew  was  not  satisfied.  The  cargo  of  the  "  Pilgrim  " 
was  at  least  two  hundred  barrels  of  oil  short.  There  had 
never  been  worse  fishing.  Captain  Hull  felt  the  disappoint- 
ment of  a  hunter  who,  for  the  first  time,  returns  as  he  went 
away — or  nearly  so.  His  self-love,  greatly  excited,  was  at 
stake,  and  he  did  not  pardon  those  scoundrels  whose  insub- 
ordination had  compromised  the  results  of  his  cruise. 

It  was  in  vain  that  he  endeavored  to  recruit  a  new  fishing 
crew  at  Auckland.  All  the  disposable  seamen  were  embarked 
on  the  other  whaling  vessels.  He  was  thus  obliged  to  give  up 
the  hope  of  completing  the  "  Pilgrim's  "  cargo,  and  Captain 
Hull  was  preparing  to  leave  Auckland  definitely,  when  a  re- 
quest for  a  passage  was  made  which  he  could  not  refuse. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  wife  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  "  owner,  was  then  at 
Auckland  with  her  young  son  Jack,  aged  about  five  )'ears, 
and  one  of  her  relatives,  her  Cousin  Benedict.  James  W. 
Weldon,  whom  his  business  operations  sometimes  obliged  to 
visit  New  Zealand,  had  brought  the  three  there,  and  intended 
to  bring  them  back  to  San  Francisco. 

But,  just  as  the  whole  family  was  going  to  depart,  little 
Jack  became  seriously  ill,  and  his  father,  imperatively  recalled 
by  his  business,  was  obliged  to  leave  Auckland,  leaving  his 
wife,  his  son,  and  Cousin  Benedict  there. 

Three  months  had  passed  away — three  long  months  of  sep- 
aration, which  were  extremely  painful  to  Mrs.  Weldon. 
Meanwhile  her  young  child  was  restored  to  health,  and  she 
was  at  liberty  to  depart,  when  she  was  informed  of  the  arrival 
of  the ''PilgVim." 

Now,  at  that  period,  in  order  to  return  to  San  Francisco, 
Mrs.  Weldon  found  herself  under  the  necessity  of  going  to 
Australia  by  one  of  the  vessels  of  the  Golden  Age  Ti-ans- 
oceanic  Company,  wl)ich  ply  between  Melbourne  and  the  Isth- 
mus of  I'anania  )>\  Papeiti.  Then,  once  arrived  at  Panama, 
it  would  l)e  necessary  for  her  to  await  the  dej)arture  of  the 
American  steamer,  which  estal)li8hes  a  regular  communication 
between  the  Isthmus  and  California.  Thence,  delays,  trans- 
shipments, always  disagreeable  for  a  woman  and  a  child.  It 
was  just  at  this  time  that  the  ''Pilgrim"  came   into  port 


12  A   CAITAIN   AT  FIFTEEN". 

tat  Auckland.  ^Nfi-f?.  Wcldon  did  not  hesitate,  but  asked  Cap- 
tain Hull  to  take  her  on  ])oard  to  bring  her  back  to  San 
Francisco — she,  her  son,  Cousin  Benedict,  and  Nan,  an  old 
negress  who  had  served  lier  since  her  infancy.  Three  thou- 
sand marine  leagues  to  travel  on  a  sailing  vessel!  But  Ca])- 
tain  Hull's  shij)  was  so  well  managed,  and  the  season  still  so 
tine  on  both  sides  of  the  Equator!  Captain  Hull  consented, 
and  immediately  put  his  own  cabin  at  the  disposal  of  his  pas- 
senger, lie  wished  that,  during  a  voyage  which  might  last 
forty  or  fifty  days,  Mrs.  Weldon  should  be  installed  as  well  as 
possible  on  board  the  whaler. 

There  were  then  certain  advantages  for  Mrs.  Weldon  in 
making  the  voyage  umler  these  conditions.  The  only  disad- 
vantage was  that  this  voyage  would  be  necessarily  prolonged 
inconsequence  of  this  circumstance — the  *' Pilgrim"  would 
go  to  Valparaiso,  in  Chili,  to  effect  her  unloading.  That 
done,  there  woukl  be  nothing  but  to  ascend  the  American 
coast,  with  land  breezes,  which  make  these  parts  very  agreeable. 

Besides,  Mrs.  Weldon  was  a  courageous  woman,  whom  the 
sea  did  not  frighten.  Then  thirty  years  of  age,  she  was  of 
robust  health,  being  accustomed  to  long  voyages,  for,  having 
shared  with  her  husband  the  fatigues  of  several  passages,  she 
did  not  fear  the  chances  more  or  less  contingent,  of  shipping 
on  board  a  ship  of  moderate  tonnage.  She  knew  Captain 
Hull  to  be  an  excellent  seaman,  in  whom  James  W.  Weldon 
had  every  confidence.  The  "Pilgrim"  was  a  strong  vessel, 
capital  sailer,  well  quoted  in  the  flotilla  of  American  whalers. 
The  opportunity  presented  itself.  It  was  necessary  to  profit 
by  it.     Mrs.  Weldon  did  profit  by  it. 

Cousin  Benedict — it  need  not  be  said — would  accompany  her. 

This  cousin  was  a  worthy  man,  about  fifty  years  of  age. 
But,  notwithstanding  his  fifty  years,  it  would  not  have  been 
prudent  to  let  him  go  out  alone.  Long,  rather  than  tall, 
narrow,  rather  than  thin,  his  figure  bony,  his  skull  enor- 
mous and  very  hairy,  one  recognized  in  his  whole  inter- 
minable person  one  of  those  worthy  savants,  with  gold  spec- 
tacles, good  and  inoffensive  beings,  destined  to  remain  great 
children  all  their  lives,  and  to  finish  very  old,  like  centenaries 
wiio  would  die  at  nurse. 

*•  Cousin  Benedict  " — he  was  called  so  invariably,  even  out- 
side of  the  family,  and,  in  truth,  he  was  indeed  one  of  those 
good  men  who  seem  to  be  the  born  cousins  of  all  the  world — 
Cousin  Benedict,  always  impeded  by  his  long  arms  and  his 


A   CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN".  13 

long  limbs,  would  be  absolutely  incapable  of  attending  to 
matters  alone,  even  in  the  most  ordinary  circumstances  of 
life.  He  was  not  troublesome,  oh  I  no,  but  rather  embarrassing 
for  others,  and  embarrassed  for  himself.  Easily  satisfied,  be- 
sides being  very  accommodating,  forgetting  to  eat  or  drink, 
if  some  one  did  not  bring  him  something  to  eat  or  drink, 
insensible  to  the  cold  as  to  the  heat,  he  seemed  to  belong  less 
to  the  animal  kingdom  than  to  the  vegetable  kingdom.  One 
must  conceive  a  very  useless  tree,  without  fruit  and  almost 
without  leaves,  incapable  of  giving  nourishment  or  shelter, 
but  with  a  good  heart. 

Such  was  Cousin  Benedict.  He  would  very  willingly  ren- 
der service  to  people  if,  as  Mr.  Prudhomme  would  say,  he 
were  capable  of  rendering  it. 

Finally,  his  friends  loved  him  for  his  very  feebleness.  Mrs. 
"U'eldon  regarded  him  as  her  child — a  large  elder  brother  of 
her  little  Jack. 

It  is  proper  to  add  here  that  Cousin  Benedict  was,  mean- 
while, neither  idle  nor  unoccupied.  On  the  contrary,  he  was 
a  worker.  His  only  passion — natural  history — absorbed  him 
entirely. 

To  say  "Xatural  History"  is  to  say  a  great  deal. 

"We  know  that  the  different  parts  of  which  this  science  is 
composed  are  zoology,  botany,  mineralogy,  and  geology. 

Now  Cousin  Benedict  was,  in  no  sense,  a  botanist,  nor  a 
mineralogist,  nor  a  geologist. 

Was  ho,  then,  a  zoologist  in  the  entire  acceptation  of  the 
word,  a  kind  of  Cuvier  of  the  Kcw  World,  decomposing  an 
animal  Ijy  analysis,  or  putting  it  together  again  by  synthesis, 
one  of  those  profound  connoisseurs,  versed  in  the  study  of  the 
four  types  to  whicli  modern  science  refers  all  animal  existence, 
vertebrates,  moUusks,  articulates,  and  radiates?  Of  these 
four  divisions,  had  the  artless  but  studious  savant  observed 
the  different  classes,  and  sought  the  orders,  the  families,  the 
tril)es,  the  genera,  the  species,  and  the  varieties  which  dis- 
tinguish them? 

Ko. 

Had  Cousin  Benedict  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
vertebrates,  mammals,  birds,  reptiles,  and  fishes? 

No. 

AVas  it  to  the  mollnsks,  from  the  cephalo))odes  to  the  bryo- 
zoans,  that  he  had  given  his  preference,  and  iiad  malacology 
no  more  secrets  for  him? 


14  A   CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN. 

Not  at  all. 

Then  it  was  on  the  radiates,  echinoderms,  acalephes,  poly- 

})cs,  entozoons,  sponges,  and  infusoria,  that  he  had  for  such  a 
ong  time  burned  the  midnight  oil? 

It  must,  indeed,  be  confessed  that  it  was  not  on  the  radi- 
ates. 

Now,  in  zoology  there  only  remains  to  be  mentioned  the 
division  of  the  articulates,  so  it  must  be  that  it  was  on  this 
division  that  Cousin  Benedict's  only  passion  was  expended. 

Yes,  and  still  it  is  necessary  to  select. 

This  branch  of  the  articulates  counts  six  classes:  insects, 
myriapodes,  arachnides,  crustaceans,  cirrhopodes,  and  anne- 
lides. 

Now,  Cousin  Benedict,  scientifically  speaking,  would  not 
know  how  to  distinguish  an  earth-worm  from  a  medicinal 
leech,  a  sand-fly  from  a  glans-marinus,  a  common  spider  from 
a  false  scorpion,  a  shrimp  from  a  frog,  a  gally-worm  from  a 
scolopendra. 

But,  then,  what  was  Cousin  Benedict?  Simply  an  ento- 
mologist— nothing  more. 

To  that,  doubtless,  it  may  be  said  that  in  its  etymological 
acceptation,  entomology  is  that  part  of  the  natural  sciences 
which  includes  all  the  articulates.  That  is  true,  in  a  general 
way;  but  it  is  the  custom  to  give  this  word  a  more  restricted 
sense.  It  is  then  only  applied,  properly  speaking,  to  the 
study  of  insects,  that  is  to  say:  "■  All  the  articulate  animals  of 
which  the  body,  composed  of  rings  placed  end  to  end,  forms 
three  distinct  segments,  and  which  possesses  three  pairs  of 
legs,  which  have  given  them  the  name  of  hexapodes." 

Now,  as  Cousin  Benedict  had  confined  himself  to  the  study 
of  the  articulates  of  this  class,  he  Avas  only  an  entomologist. 

But,  let  us  not  be  mistaken  about  it.  In  this  class  of  the 
insects  are  counted  not  less  than  ten  orders: 

1.  Orthopterans  as  grasshoppers,  crickets,  etc. 

2.  Neuropters  as  ant-eaters,  (Iragon-llies  or  libellula. 

3.  Hymenopters  as  bees,  wasps,  auts. 

4.  Lepidopters  as  butterflies,  etc. 

5.  Ilemipters  as  cicada,  plant-lice,  fleas,  etc. 

6.  Coleopters  as  cockchafers,  fire  flies,  etc. 

7.  Dipters  as  gnats,  musquitoes,  flies. 

8.  Rhipipters  as  stylops. 

9.  Parasites  as  acara,  etc. 

10.  Thysanurans  as  lepidotus,  flying-lice,  etc. 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN".  15 

Xow,  in  certain  of  these  orders,  the  coleopters,  for  exam- 
ple, there  are  recognized  thirty  thousand  species,  and  sixty 
thousand  in  the  dipters;  so  subjects  for  study  are  not  want- 
ing, and  it  will  be  conceded  that  there  is  sufficient  in  this 
class  alone  to  occupy  a  man ! 

Thus,  Cousin  Benedict's  life  "was  entirely  and  solely  conse- 
crated to  entomology. 

To  this  science  he  gave  all  his  hours — all,  'without  excep- 
tion, even  the  hours  of  sleep,  because  he  invariably  dreamt 
"  hexapodes. ''  That  he  carried  pins  stuck  in  his  sleeves  and 
in  the  collar  of  his  coat,  in  the  bottom  of  his  hat,  and  in  the 
facings  of  his  vest,  need  not  be  mentioned. 

"U'hen  Cousin  Benedict  returned  from  some  scientific  prom- 
enade his  precious  head-covering  in  particular  was  no  more 
than  a  box  of  natural  history,  being  bristling  inside  and  out- 
side "with  pierced  insects. 

And  now  all  will  be  told  abont  this  original  when  it  is 
stated  that  it  was  on  account  of  his  passion  for  entomology 
that  he  had  accompanied  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weldon  to  Xew 
Zealand.  There  his  collection  was  enriched  by  some  rare  sub- 
jects, and  it  will  be  readily  understood  that  he  was  in  haste 
to  return  to  classify  them  in  the  cases  of  his  cabinet  in  San 
Francisco. 

So,  as  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  child  were  returning  to  America 
by  the  "  Pilgrim,"  nothing  more  natural  tlian  for  Cousin 
Benedict  to  accompany  them  during  that  passage. 

But  it  was  not  on  him  that  Mrs.  W'cldon  could  rely,  if  she 
should  ever  find  herself  in  any  critical  situation.  Very  fortu- 
nately, the  prospect  Avas  only  that  of  a  voyage  easily  made 
during  the  fine  season,  and  on  board  of  a  ship  whose  captain 
merited  all  her  confidence. 

During  the  three  days  that  the  "Pilgrim"  was  in  port  at 
Waitomata,  Mrs.  Weldon  made  her  preparations  in  great  haste, 
for  she  did  not  wish  to  delay  the  departure  of  the  schooner. 
The  native  servants  whom  she  employed  in  her  dwelling  in 
Auckland  were  dismissed,  and,  on  the  22nd  January,  she  em- 
barked on  board  the  "  Pilgrim,"  bringing  only  her  son  Jack, 
Cousin  Benedict,  and  Nan,  her  old  negress. 

Cousin  Benedict  carried  all  his  curious  collection  of  insects 
in  a  special  box.  In  this  collection  figured,  among  others, 
some  specimens  of  those  newstaphylins,  sjiecies  of  carnivorous 
coleopters,  whose  eyes  are  placed  above  the  head,  and  which, 
till  then,  seemed  to  be  peculiar  to  New  Caledonia.     A  certain 


IG  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

vonoinous  spider,  the  "k:itipo,"  of  the  Maoris,  whose  hito  is 
often  latal  to  tlie  natives,  luid  been  very  hiji^lily  recommonded 
to  liiin.  liut  ii  spider  does  not  belong  to  the  order  of  insects 
]n-oporly  so  called;  it  is  ])laced  in  tluit  of  tlic  araclmidti,  and, 
consecpiently  was  valueless  in  Cousin  Benedict's  eyes.  Thus 
he  t^corned  it,  and  tlie  most  beautiful  jewel  of  his  collection 
was  a  remarkable  staphylin  from  ]S'ew  Zealand. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  (-ousin  lienedict,  by  paying  a 
licavy  premium,  had  insured  his  cargo,  which  to  him  seemed 
much  more  precious  than  all  the  freight  of  oil  and  bones 
stowed  away  in  the  hold  of  the  "Pilgrim." 

Just  as  the  "Pilgrim"  was  getting  under  sail,  when  Mrs. 
"Weldon  and  her  companion  for  the  voyage  found  themselves 
on  the  deck  of  the  schooner,  Cai)tain  Hull  approached  his 
passenger : 

"It  is  understood,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  he  said  to  her,  "that,  if 
you  take  passage  on  board  the  '  Pilgrim,'  it  is  on  your  OAvn 
responsibility." 

**  Why  do  you  make  that  observation  to  me,  Mr.  Hull?" 
asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  Because  I  have  not  received  an  order  from  your  husband 
in  regard  to  it,  and,  all  things  considered,  a  schooner  cannot 
offer  you  the  guarantees  of  a  good  passage,  lii^e  a  packet-boat 
sjieciallv  intended  to  carry  travelers." 

"  If  my  husband  were  here,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "  do  you 
think,  Mr.  Hull,  tliat  he  would  hesitate  to  embark  on  the 
'  Pilgrim,'   in  company  with  his  wife  and  child?" 

"  Xo,  Mrs.  Weldon,  he  would  not  hesitate,"  said  Captain 
Hull;  "no,  indeedl  no  more  than  I  should  hesitate  myself! 
The  '  Pilgrim  '  is  a  good  ship,  after  all,  even  though  she  has 
made  but  a  sad  cruise,  and  I  am  sure  of  lier,  as  much  so  as  a 
seaman  can  l)o  of  the  ship  which  he  has  commanded  for  several 
years.  The  reason  I  speak,  Mrs.  Weldon,  is  to  get  rid  of  i)er- 
sonal  responsibility,  and  to  repeat  that  you  will  not  find  on 
board  the  comfort  to  which  you  have  been  accustomed." 

"As  it  is  only  a  question  of  comfort,  Mr.  Hull,"  replied 
Mrs.  Weldon,  "  that  should  not  stop  me.  I  am  not  one  of 
those  troublesome  passengers  who  com])lain  incessantly  of  the 
narrowness  of  the  cal)ins,  and  the  insufficiency  of  the  table." 

Then,  after  looking  for  a  few  moments  at  her  little  Jack, 
whom  she  held  bv  the  hand,  Mrs.  Weldon  said: 

"Let  us  go,  Mr.  Hull!" 


A   CAITAIX   AT  FIFTEEN.  17 

The  orders  were  given  to  get  under  way  at  once,  tlie  sails 
were  set,  and  the  '"  Pilgrim,''  working  to  get  ont  to  sea  in  the 
shortest  time  possible,  steered  for  the  American  coast. 

But,  three  days  after  her  departure,  the  schooner,  thwarted 
by  strong  breezes  from  the  east,  was  obliged  to  tack  to  lar- 
board to  make  headway  against  the  wind.  So,  at  the  date  of 
February  2nd,  Captain  Hull  still  found  himself  in  a  higher 
latitude  than  he  would  have  wished,  and  in  the  situation  of 
a  sailor  who  wanted  to  double  Cape  Horn  rather  than  reach 
the  New  Continent  by  the  shortest  course. 


CHAPTEE    II. 

DICK    SAKD. 

Meanwhile  the  sea  was  favorable,  and,  except  the  delays, 
navigation  would  be  accomplished  under  very  supportable 
conditions. 

Mrs.  Weldon  had  been  installed  on  board  the  "  Pilgrim  " 
as  comfortably  as  possible. 

Neither  poop  nor  "  roufle  "  was  at  the  end  of  the  deck. 
There  was  no  stern  cabin,  then,  to  receive  the  passengers. 
She  was  ol)liged  to  be  contented  with  Captain  Hull's  cabin, 
situated  aft,  which  constituted  his  modest  sea  lodging.  And 
still  it  liad  been  necessary  for  the  captain  to  insist,  in  order 
to  make  her  accept  it.  There,  in  that  narrow  lodging,  was 
installed  Mrs.  Weldon,  with  lier  child  and  old  Nan.  She 
took  her  meals  there,  in  company  with  the  captain  and 
Cousin  Benedict,  for  whom  they  had  fitted  up  a  kind  of 
cabin  on  board. 

As  to  the  commander  of  the  "  Pilgrim,"  he  had  settled 
himself  in  a  cabin  belonging  to  the  ship's  crew — a  cabin 
which  would  be  occupied  by  the  second  officer,  if  there  were 
a  second  one  on  board.  But  the  brig-schooner  was  navigated, 
we  know,  under  conditions  which  enabled  her  to  dispense 
with  the  services  of  a  second  oflicer. 

The  men  of  the  "  Pilgrim,"  good  and  strong  seamen,  were 
very  much  united  by  common  ideas  and  habits.  Tliis  fishing 
season  was  the  fourth  which  they  had  ])assed  together.  All 
Americans  of  the  West,  they  were  acquainted  f<tr  a  long  jtcri- 
od,  and  belonged  to  the  same  C(tasl  of  the  State  of  California. 

These  brave  men  showed  themselves  very  thoughtful  towards 
Mrs.  Weldon,  the  wife  of  the  owner  of  their  ship,  for  whom 


IS  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

tlioy  professed  boundless  devotion.  It  must  be  said  that, 
largely  interested  in  the  i)rorits  of  the  ship,  tliey  hud  navigated 
till  then  Avith  great  gain.  If,  by  reason  of  their  small  num- 
ber, they  did  not  spare  themselves,  it  was  because  every  labor 
increased  their  earnings  in  the  settling  of  accounts  at  the  end 
of  each  season.  This  time,  it  is  true,  the  ])rofit  would  be 
almost  nothing,  and  that  gave  them  just  cause  to  curse  and 
SAvear  against  those  New  Zealand  scoundrels. 

One  man  on  board,  alone  among  all,  was  not  of  American 
origin.  Portuguese  by  birth,  but  speaking  English  fluently, 
he  was  called  Negoro,  and  filled  the  humble  position  of  cook 
on  the  schooner. 

The  "Pilgrim's"  cook  having  deserted  at  Auckland,  this 
Negoro,  then  out  of  employment,  offered  himself  for  the  place. 
He  was  a  taciturn  man,  not  at  all  communicative,  who  kept 
to  himself,  but  did  his  work  satisfactorily.  In  engaging  him. 
Captain  Hull  seemed  to  be  rather  fortunate,  and  since  em- 
barking, the  master  cook  had  merited  no  reproach. 

^Meanwhile,  Captain  Hull  regretted  not  having  had  the  time 
to  inform  himself  sufTiciently  about  Xegoro's  antecedents. 
His  face,  or  rather  his  look,  Avas  only  half  in  his  favor,  and 
when  it  is  necessary  to  bring  an  unknown  into  the  life  on 
board,  so  confined,  so  mtimate,  his  antecedents  should  be 
carefully  inquired  into. 

Xegoro  might  be  forty  years  old.  Thin,  nervous,  of  medi- 
\\m  hight,  with  very  broAvn  hair,  skin  somcAvhat  swarthy,  he 
ought  to  be  strong.  Had  he  received  any  instruction?  Yes; 
that  appeared  in  certain  observations  which  escaped  him 
sometimes.  Besides,  he  ncAcr  spoke  of  his  past  life,  he  said 
not  a  Avord  about  his  family.  Whence  lie  came,  Avhere  he  had 
lived,  no  one  could  tell.  AVhat  Avould  his  future  be?  No  one 
kncAv  any  more  about  that.  He  only  announced  his  intention 
of  going  on  shore  at  Valparaiso.  He  was  certainly  a  singular 
man.  At  all  events,  he  did  not  seem  to  be  a  sailor.  He 
seemed  to  be  even  more  strange  to  marine  things  than  is  usual 
Avith  a  master  cook,  part  of  Avhose  existence  is  passed  at  sea. 

MeanAvhile,  as  to  being  incommoded  by  the  rolling  and 
pitching  of  the  ship,  like  men  who  have  never  navigated,  he 
Avas  not  in  the  least,  and  that  is  something  for  a  cook  on  board 
a  vessel. 

Finally,  he  Avas  little  seen.  During  the  day,  he  most  gen- 
erally remained  confined  in  his  narroAv  kitchen,  before  the 
fitove  for  melting,  Avhich    occupied    the   greater  part  of  it. 


A   CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN-.  19 

When  night  came  and  the  fire  in  the  stove  -svas  out,  Negoro 
went  to  the  cabin  which  was  assigned  to  him  at  the  end  of 
the  crew's  quarters.  Then  he  went  to  bed  at  once  and  went 
to  sleep. 

It  has  been  already  said  that  the  "  Pilgrim's  "  crew  was 
composed  of  five  sailors  and  a  novice. 

This  young  novice,  aged  fifteen,  was  the  child  of  an  un- 
known father  and  mother.  This  poor  being,  abandoned  from 
his  birth,  had  been  received  and  brought  up  -by  public 
charity. 

Dick  Sand — that  was  his  name — must  have  been  originally 
from  the  State  of  Xew  York,  and  doubtless  from  the  capital 
of  that  State. 

If  the  name  of  Dick — an  abbreviation  of  Eichard — had 
been  given  to  the  little  orphan,  it  was  because  it  was  the 
name  of  the  charitable  passer-by  who  had  picked  him  up  two 
or  three  hours  after  his  birth.  "As  to  the  name  of  Sand,  it 
was  attributed  to  him  in  remembrance  of  the  place  where  he 
had  been  found;  that  is  to  say,  on  that  point  of  land  called 
Sandy  Hook,  which  forms  the  entrance  of  the  port  of  Xew 
York,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson. 

Dick  Sand,  when  he  should  reach  his  full  growfti,  would 
not  exceed  middle  height,  but  he  was  well  built.  One  could 
not  doubt  that  he  was  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin.  He  was 
brown,  however,  with  blue  eyes,  in  which  the  crystaline 
sparkled  with  ardent  fire.  His  seaman's  craft  had  already 
j)repared  him  well  for  the  conflicts  of  life.  His  intelligent 
physiognomy  breathed  forth  energy.  It  was  not  that  of  an 
audacious  person,  it  was  that  of  a  darer.  These  three  words 
from  an  unfinished  verse  of  Virgil  are  often  cited: 

"  Audaces  fortuna  juvat"  .... 

but  they  are  quoted  incorrectly.     The  poet  said: 

"  Audentes  fortuna  juvat "  .... 

It  is  on  the  darcrs,  not  on  the  audacious,  that  Fortune  almost 
alwavs  smiled.  The  audacious  may  be  unguarded.  The 
darer  thinks  first,  acts  afterwards.     I'herc  is  the  difference! 

Dick  Sand  was  nudmff. 

At  fifteen  he  already  knew  how  to  take  a  part,  and  to  carry 
out  to  the  end  wliatever  liis  resolute  spirit  had  decided  upon. 
His  manner,  at  once  sj)irilcd  and  serious,  attracted  attention, 
lie  did  not  squander  himself  in  words  and  gestures,  as  boys 


20  A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN. 

of  his  acfo  ifoncrally  do.  Early,  at  a  period  of  life  when  they 
seldom  discuss  tlie  })roblenis  of  existence,  he  had  looked  his 
miserable  condition  in  the  face,  and  he  had  promised  "  to 
make  "  himself. 

And  he  had  made  himself — bein<^  already  almost  a  man 
at  an  age  when  others  are  still  only  children. 

At  the  same  time,  very  nimble,  very  skillful  in  all  physical 
exercises,  Dick  Sand  was  one  of  those  privileged  beings,  of 
whom  it  may  be  said  that  they  were  born  with  two  left  feet 
and  two  right  hands.  In  that  way,  they  do  everything  with 
the  right  hand,  and  always  set  out  with  the  left  foot. 

Public  charity,  it  has  been  said,  liad  brought  up  the  little 
orphan.  He  had  been  put  first  in  one  of  those  houses  for 
children,  wliere  there  is  always,  in  America,  a  place  for  the 
little  waifs.  Then  at  four,  Dick  learned  to  read,  write,  and 
count  in  one  of  those  State  of  New  York  schools,  which 
charitable  subscriptions  maintain  so  generously. 

At  eight,  the  taste  for  the  sea,  which  Dick  had  from  birth, 
caused  him  to  embark  as  cabin-boy  on  a  packet-ship  of  the 
South  Sea.  There  he  learned  the  seaman's  trade,  and  as  one 
ought  to  learn  it,  from  the  earliest  age.  Little  by  little  ho 
instructed  himself  under  the  direction  of  officers  who  were 
interested  in  this  little  old  man.  So  the  cabin-boy  soon  be- 
came the  novice,  expecting  something  better,  of  course.  The 
child  who  understands,  from  the  beginning,  that  work  is  the 
law  of  life,  the  one  who  knows,  from  an  early  age,  that  he 
will  gain  his  bread  only  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow — a  JJible 
precept  which  is  the  rule  of  humanity — that  one  is  probably 
intended  for  great  things;  for  some  day  he  will  have,  withrthe 
will,  the  strength  to  accomplish  them. 

It  was,  when  he  was  a  cabin-boy  on  board  a  merchant  ves- 
sel, that  Dick  Sand  was  remarked  by  Captain  Hull.  This 
honest  seaman  immediately  formed  a  friendship  Avith  this 
honest  young  boy,  and  later  he  made  him  known  to  the  ship- 
owner, James  W.  Weldon.  The  latter  felt  a  lively  interest  in 
this  orphan,  whose  education  he  completed  at  San  Francisco, 
and  he  had  him  brought  up  in  the  Catholic  religion,  to  which 
his  family  adhered. 

During  the  course  of  his  studies,  Dick  Sand  showed  a  par- 
ticular liking  for  geography,  for  voyages,  while  waiting  till  he 
was  old  enough  to  learn  that  branch  of  mathematics  which 
relates  to  navigation.  Then  to  this  theoretical  portion  of  his 
instruction,  he  did  not  neglect  to  Join  the  practical.     It  was 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  21 

as  norice  that  he  was  able  to  embark  for  the  first  time  on  the 
*'  Pilgrim."  A  good  seaman  ought  to  understand  fishing  as 
well  as  navigation.  It  is  a  good  preparation  for  all  the  con- 
tingencies which  the  maritime  career  admits  of.  Besides, 
Dick  Sand  set  out  on  a  vessel  of  James  AV.  Weldon's,  his  ben- 
efactor, commanded  by  his  protector,  Captain  Hull.  Thus 
he  found  himself  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances. 

To  speak  of  the  extent  of  his  devotion  to  the  Weldon  fam- 
ily, to  whom  he  owed  everything,  would  be  superfluous.  Bet- 
ter let  the  facts  speak  for  themselves.  But  it  will  be  under- 
stood how  happy  the  young  novice  was  when  he  learned  that 
Mrs.  AYeldon  was  going  to  take  passage  on  board  the  "  Pil- 
grim." Mrs.  Weldon  for  several  years  had  been  a  mother  to 
him,  and  in  Jack  he  saw  a  little  brother,  all  the  time  keei^ing 
in  remembrance  his  position  in  respect  to  the  son  of  the  rich 
ship-owner.  But — his  protectors  knew  it  well — this  good  seed 
which  they  had  sown  had  fallen  on  good  soil.  The  orphan's 
heart  was  filled  with  gratitude,  and  some  day,  if  it  should  be 
necessary  to  give  his  life  for  those  who  had  taught  him  to  in- 
struct himself  and  to  love  God,  the  young  novice  would  not 
hesitate  to  give  it.  Finally,  to  be  only  fifteen,  but  to  act  and 
think  as  if  he  were  thirty,  that  was  Dick  Sand. 

Mrs.  Weldon  knew  what  her  protege  was  worth.  She  could 
trust  little  Jack  with  him  without  any  anxiety.  Dick  Sand 
cherished  this  child,  who,  feeling  himself  loved  by  this  "  large 
brother,"  sought  his  company.  During  those  long  leisure 
hours,  which  are  frequent  in  a  voyage,  when  the  sea  is  smooth, 
when  the  well  set  up  sails  require  no  management,  Dick  and 
Jack  were  almost  always  together.  The  young  novice  showed 
the  little  boy  everything  in  his  craft  which  seemed  amusing. 

"Without  fear  Mrs.  Weldon  saw  Jack,  in  company  with 
Dick  Sand,  spring  out  on  the  shrouds,  climb  to  the  lop  of 
the  mizzen-mast,  or  to  the  booms  of  the  mizzen-tojnnast,  and 
come  down  again  like  an  arrow  the  whole  length  of  the  back- 
Btavs.  Dick  Sand  went  before  or  followed  him,  always  ready 
to  liold  him  up  or  keep  him  back,  if  his  six-year-old  arms 
grew  feelile  during  those  exercises.  All  that  benefited  little 
Jack,  whom  sickness  had  made  somewhat  i»ale;  but  his  color 
soon  came  back  on  l)oard  the  "Pilgrim,"  thanks  to  this  gym- 
nastic, and  to  the  bracing  sea-breezes. 

So  passed  the  time.  Under  these  conditions  the  passage 
was  Vjeing  accomplished,  and  only  the  weather  was  not  very 


22  A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

favorahlc.  noitlior  the  passengers  nor  crew  of  the  '^  Pilgrim  " 
■would  liavo  had  cause  to  com])lain. 

Meanwhile  this  continuance  of  east  winds  made  Captain 
Hull  anxious.  He  did  not  succeed  in  getting  the  vessel  into 
the  right  course.  Later,  near  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn,  he 
feau^l  finding  calms  which  would  delay  him  again,  without 
speaking  of  the  equatorial  current,  which  would  irresistibly 
throw  him  hack  to  the  west.  lie  was  troubled  then,  above 
all,  for  Mrs.  Weldon,  by  the  delays  for  which,  meanwhile,  he 
was  not  responsible.  So,  if  he  should  meet,  on  his  course, 
some  trans-atlantic  steamers  on  the  way  toward  America,  he 
already  thought  of  advising  his  passenger  to  embark  on  it. 
Unfortunately,  he  was  detained  in  latitudes  too  high  to  cross 
a  steamer  running  to  Panama;  and  besides,  at  that  period 
communication  across  the  Pacific,  between  Australia  and  the 
Kew  M'orld,  Avas  not  as  frequent  as  it  has  since  become. 

It  then  was  necessary  to  leave  everything  to  the  gi-ace  of 
God,  and  it  seemed  as  if  nothing  would  trouble  this  monoto- 
nous passage,  when  the  first  incident  occurred  precisely  on 
that  day,  February  2nd,  in  the  latitude  and  longitude  indi- 
cated at  the  beginning  of  this  history. 

Dick  Sand  and  Jack,  toward  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
in  very  clear  weather,  were  installed  on  the  booms  of  the  miz- 
zen-topmast.  Thence  they  looked  down  on  the  whole  ship 
and  a  portion  of  the  ocean  in  a  large  circumference.  Behind, 
the  perimeter  of  the  horizon  was  broken  to  their  eyes,  only 
by  the  main-mast,  carrying  brigantinc  and  fore-stalf.  That 
beacon  hid  from  them  a  part  of  the  sea  and  the  sky.  In 
front,  they  saw  the  l)owsprit  stretching  over  the  waves,  with 
its  three  jibs,  which  were  hauled  tightly,  spread  out  like 
three  great  unequal  wings.  Underneath'  rounded  the  fore- 
mast, and  above,  the  little  top-sail  and  the  little  gallant-sail, 
whose  bolt-rope  quivered  with  the  pranks  of  the  breeze. 
The  schooner  was  then  running  on  the  larboard  tack,  and 
hugging  the  wind  as  much  as  possible. 

Dick  Sand  explained  to  Jack  how  the  "  Pilgrim,"  ballasted 
properly,  well  balanced  in  all  her  parts,  could  not  capsize, 
even  if  she  gave  a  pretty  strong  heel  to  starboard,  when  the 
little  boy  interrupted  him. 

"  What  do  I  see  there?"  said  he. 

*' You  see  something,  Jack?"  demanded  Dick  Sand,  who 
stood  up  straight  on  the  booms. 

**  Yes — there!"  replied  little  Jack,  showing  a  point  of  the 


A    CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN.  23 

sea,  left  open  by  the  interral  between  the  stays  of  the  stand- 
ing-jib and  the  flying-jib. 

Dick  Sand  looked  at  the  point  indicated  attentively,  and 
forthwith,  with  a  loud  Toice,  he  cried: 

"  A  wreck  to  windward,  oyer  against  starboard!" 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   WRECK. 

Dick  Saxd's  cry  brought  all  the  crew  to  their  feet.  The 
men  who  were  not  on  watch  came  on  deck.  Captain  Hull, 
leaving  his  cabin,  went  toward  the  bow. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  Xan,  even  the  indifferent  Cousin  Benedict 
himself,  came  to  lean  over  the  starboard  rail,  so  as  to  see  the 
wreck  signaled  by  the  young  novice. 

Xegoro,  alone,  did  not  leave  the  cabin,  which  served  him 
for  a  kitchen;  and  as  usual,  of  all  the  crew,  he  was  the  only 
one  whom  the  encounter  with  a  wreck  did  not  appear  to 
interest. 

Then  all  regarded  attentively  the  floating  object  which  the 
waves  were  rocking,  three  miles  from  the  "Pilgrim." 

"  Ah!  what  can  that  be?"  said  a  sailor. 

"  Some  abandoned  raft,"  replied  another. 

*'  Perhaps  there  are  some  unhappy  shipwrecked  ones  on 
that  raft,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  We  shall  find  out,"  replied  Captain  Hull.  "  But  that 
wreck  is  not  a  raft.     It  is  a  hull  thrown  over  on  the  side," 

"All!  is  it  not  more  likely  to  be  some  marine  animal — 
some  mammifer  of  great  size?"  observed  Cousin  Benedict. 

"  I  do  not  think  so,"  replied  the  novice. 

"Then  what  is  your  idea,  Dick?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  An  overturned  hull,  as  the  captain  has  said,  Mrs.  Weldon. 
It  even  seems  to  me  that  I  see  its  copper  keel  glistening  in  the 
sun." 

«  Yes — indeed,"  replied  Captain  Hull.  Then  addressing 
the  helmsman:  "  Steer  to  tlie  windAvard,  Bolton.  Let  her  go 
a  quarter,  so  as  to  come  alongside  tlie  wreck." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  holni.sman. 

"But,"  continued  Cousin  Benedict,  "I  keep  to  what  I 
liavc  said.      Positively  it  is  an  animal." 

"  Then  this  would  be  a  whale  in  cop])er,"  replied  Captain 
Hull,  "  for,  positively,  also,  1  sec  it  shine  in  tlie  sun!" 


■  24  A  CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

'•'At  all  events,  Cousin  I'onedict,"  added  Mrs.  Weldon, 
"yon  will  agree  with  ns  that  this  whale  must  be  dead,  for  it 
is  certain  that  it  does  not  make  the  least  movement." 

"Ah!  Cousin  Weldon,"  rc})licd  Cousin  Benedict,  who  was 
obstinate,  "this  would  not  be  the  first  time  that  one  has  met 
a  whale  sleeping  on  the  surface  of  the  waves." 

''That  is  a  fact,"  replied  Captain  Hull;  "but  to-day,  the 
thing  is  not  a  whale,  but  a  shi])." 

"We  shall  soon  see,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  who,  after 
all,  would  give  all  the  mammifers  of  the  Arctic  or  Antarctic 
seas  for  an  insect  of  a  rare  sjiecies. 

"  Steer,  Bolton,  steer!"  cried  Captain  Hall  again,  "and  do 
not  board  the  wreck.  Keep  a  cable's  length.  If  we  cannot 
do  much  harm  to  this  hull,  it  might  cause  us  some  damage, 
and  I  do  not  care  to  hurt  the  sides  of  the  *  Pilgrim  "  with  it. 
Tack  a  little,  Bolton,  tack!" 

The  "  Pilgrim's ''  prow,  which  had  been  directed  toward 
the  wreck,  was  turned  aside  by  a  slight  movement  of  the 
helm. 

The  schooner  was  still  a  mile  from  the  capsized  hnll.  The 
sailors  were  eagerly  looking  at  it.  Perhaps  it  held  a  valuable 
cargo,  which  it  would  be  possible  to  transfer  to  the  "  Pil- 
grim." We  know  that,  in  these  salvages,  the  third  of  the 
value  belongs  to  the  rescuers,  and,  in  this  case,  if  the  cargo 
was  not  damaged,  the  crew,  as  they  say,  would  make  "  a  good 
haul."  This  would  be  a  fish  of  consolation  for  their  incom- 
plete fishing. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  the  wreck  was  less  than  a  mile 
from  the  "  Pilgrim." 

It  was  indeed  a  ship,  which  presented  itself  on  its  side,  to 
the  starboard.  Capsized  as  far  as  the  nettings,  she  heeled  so 
much  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  stand  upon  her 
deck.  Nothing  could  be  seen  beyond  her  masts.  From  the 
port-shrouds  were  hanging  only  some  ends  of  broken  rope, 
and  the  chains  broken  by  the  cloaks  of  white-crested  waves. 
On  the  starboard  side  opened  a  large  hole  between  the  tim- 
bers of  the  frame-work  and  the  damaged  planks. 

"This  ship  has  been  run  into,"  cried  Dick  Sand. 

"There  is  no  doul)t  of  that,"  replied  Captain  Hull;  "and 
it  is  a  miracle  that  she  did  not  sink  immediately." 

"  If  there  has  been  a  collision,"  observed  Mrs.  Weldon, 
"  we  must  hope  that  the  crew  of  this  ship  has  been  picked  up 
bv  those  who  struck  her." 


A   CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN-.  25 

"It  is  to  be  hoped  so,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  Captain  Hull, 
"  unless  this  crew  sought  refuge  in  their  o^ra  boats  after  the 
collision,  in  case  the  colliding  vessel  should  sail  right  on — 
which,  alas!  sometimes  happens." 

"Is  it  possible?  That  would  be  a  proof  of  very  great  in- 
humanity, Mr.  Hull!" 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Weldon.  Yes!  and  instances  are  not  wanting. 
As  to  the  crew  of  this  ship,  what  makes  me  believe  that  it  is 
more  likely  they  have  left  it,  is  that  I  do  not  see  a  single 
boat:  and,  unless  the  men  on  board  have  been  picked  up,  I 
should  be  more  inclined  to  think  that  they  have  tried  to  reach 
the  land.  But,  at  this  distance  from  the  American  conti- 
nent, or  from  the  islands  of  Oceanica,  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
they  have  not  succeeded." 

"Perhaps,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "we  shall  never  know  the 
secret  of  this  catastrophe.  Meanwhile,  it  might  be  possible 
that  some  man  of  the  crew  is  still  on  board." 

"  That  is  not  probable,  Mrs.  AVeldon,"  replied  Captain 
IIull.  "Our  approach  would  be  already  known,  and  they 
would  make  some  signals  to  us.  But  we  shall  make  sure  of 
it. — LuS  a  little,  Bolton,  luff,"  cried  Captain  Hull,  while 
indicating  with  his  hand  what  course  to  take. 

The  "  Pilgrim  "  was  now  only  three  cables'  length  from  the 
wreck,  and  they  could  no  longer  doubt  that  this  hull  had 
been  completely  abandoned  by  all  its  crew. 

But,  at  that  moment,  Dick  Sand  made  a  gesture  which  im- 
periously demanded  silence. 

"  Listen,  listen!"  said  he. 

Each  listened. 

"  I  hear  something  like  a  bark!"  cried  Dick  Sand. 

In  fact,  a  distant  barking  resounded  from  the  interior  of 
the  hull.  Certainly  there  was  a  living  dog  there,  imprisoned 
perhaps,  for  it  was  possible  that  the  hatches  were  hermetically 
closed.  But  they  could  not  see  it,  the  deck  of  the  capsized 
vessel  being  still  invisible. 

"  If  there  be  only  a  dog  there,  Mr.  Hull,"  said  Mrs.  Wel- 
don,  "  we  shall  save  it." 

"Yes,  yes!"  cried  little  Jack,  "  we  shall  save  it!  I  shall 
give  it  something  to  eat!  It  will  love  us  well!  Mamma,  I 
am  going  to  bring  it  a  y>ioce  of  sugar!" 

"  Stay  still,  my  child."  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  smiling.  "  I 
believe  that  the  poor  animal  is  dying  of  hunger,  and  it  will 
prefer  a  good  mess  to  your  morsel  of  sugar." 


2G  A   CAITAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

''  Well,  then,  let  it  have  my  soup,"  cried  little  Jack.  "I 
can  do  without  it  very  well." 

At  that  inonieiit  the  harking  was  more  distinctly  heard. 
Three  hundred  feet,  at  the  most,  separated  the  two  ships. 
Almost  immediately  a  dog  of  great  height  appeared  on  the 
starboard  netting,  and  clung  there,  barking  more  despairingly 
than  ever. 

*'Howick,"  said  Captain  Hull,  turning  toward  the  master 
of  the  "Pilgrim's"  crew,  "heave  to,  and  lower  the  small 
boat." 

"  Hold  on,  my  dog,  hold  on!"  cried  little  Jack  to  the  ani- 
mal, which  seemed  to  answer  him  with  a  half-stifled  bark. 

The  "  Pilgrim's  "  sails  were  rapidly  furled,  so  that  the  ship 
should  remain  almost  motionless,  less  than  half  a  cable's 
leno^th  from  the  wreck. 

The  boat  was  brought  alongside.  Captain  Hull,  Dick  Sand 
and  two  sailors  got  into  it  at  once. 

The  dog  barked  all  the  time.  It  tried  to  hold  on  to  the 
netting,  but  every  moment  it  fell  back  on  the  deck.  One 
would  say  that  its  barks  were  no  longer  addressed  to  those 
who  were  coming  to  him.  Were  they,  then,  addressed  to 
some  sailors  or  passengers  imprisoned  in  this  ship? 

"  Is  there,  then,  on  board,  some  shipwrecked  one  who  has 
survived?"  Mrs.  Weldon  asked  herself. 

A  few  strokes  of  the  oars  and  the  "Pilgrim's"  boat  would 
reach  the  capsized  hull. 

But,  suddenly,  the  dog's  manner  changed.     Furious  barks 
succeeded  its  first  barks  inviting  the  rescuers  to  come.      The ' 
most  violent  anger  excited  the  singular  animal. 

"  What  can  be  the  matter  with  that  dog?"  said  Captain 
Hull,  while  the  boat  was  turning  the  stern  of  the  vessel,  so  as 
to  come  alongside  of  the  part  of  the  deck  lying  under  the 
water. 

What  Captain  Hull  could  not  then  observe,  what  could  not 
be  noticed  even  on  board  the  "  Pilgrim,"  was  that  the  dog's 
fury  manifested  itself  just  at  the  moment  when  Negoro,  leav- 
ing his  kitchen,  had  just  come  toward  the  forecastle. 

Did  the  dog  then  know  and  recognize  the  master  cook?  It 
■was  very  improbable. 

However  that  may  be,  after  looking  at  the  dog,  without 
showing  any  surprise,  Negoro,  who,  however,  frowned  for  an 
instant,  returned  to  the  crew's  quarters. 


■s^ 


;^i5s^ 


*i^S£ 


COL'HIN    UKNKDICT    WAS    IJTEKAI.LV    FL-K10U8.— 6<e  y>(/(/C    Hi'. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  27 

Meanwhile  the  boat  had  rounded  the  stern  of  the  ship. 
Her  aftboard  carried  this  single  name:  "  Waldeck." 

"  Waldeck,"  and  no  designation  of  the  port  attached.  But, 
by  the  form  of  the  hull,  by  certain  details  which  a  sailor 
seizes  at  the  first  glance,  Captain  Hull  had,  indeed,  discovered 
that  this  ship  was  of  American  construction.  Besides,  her 
name  confirmed  it.  And,  now,  this  hull,  it  was  all  that  re- 
mained of  a  large  brig  of  five  hundred  tons. 

At  the  '•'  Waldeck's  "  prow  a  large  opening  indicated  the 
place  where  the  collision  had  occurred.  In  consequence  of 
the  capsizing  of  the  hull,  this  opening  was  then  five  or  six 
feet  above  the  water — which  explained  why  the  brig  had  not 
yet  foundered. 

On  the  deck,  which  Captain  Hull  saw  in  its  whole  extent, 
there  was  nobody. 

The  dog,  having  left  the  netting,  had  just  let  itself  slip  as 
far  as  the  central  hatch,  which  was  open;  and  it  barked  partly 
toward  the  interior,  partly  toward  the  exterior. 

"  It  is  very  certain  that  this  animal  is  not  alone  on  board!" 
obsen-ed  Dick  Sand. 

"■No,  in  truth  I"  replied  Captain  Hull. 

The  boat  then  skirted  the  larboard  netting,  which  was  half 
under  water.  A  somewhat  strong  swell  of  the  sea  would 
certainly  submerge  the  "  Waldeck  "  in  a  few  moments. 

The  brig's  deck  had  been  swept  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
There  was  nothing  left  except  tlie  stumps  of  the  main-mast 
and  of  the  mizzen-mast,  1x)th  broken  off  two  feet  above  the 
scuttles,  and  wliicli  liad  fallen  in  the  collision,  carrying  away 
shrouds,  back-stays,  and  rigging.  Meanwhile,  as  far  as  Ihc 
eye  could  see,  no  Avrcck  Avas  visible  around  the  "AValdeck  "' — 
which  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  catastrophe  was  already 
several  days  old. 

*'  If  some  unliappy  creatures  have  survived  the  collision," 
said  Captain  Hull,  "it  is  probable  that  either  hunger  or  thirst 
lias  finished  them,  for  the  Avatcr  must  have  gained  the  store- 
room.    There  arc  onlv  dead  bodies  on  board  I" 

"No,"  cried  Dick  i^and,  "no!  The  dog  would  not  bark 
that  way!     There  are  living  beings  on  board!" 

At  that  moment  the  animal,  resjionding  to  tjie  call  of  the 
novice,  slid  to  the  sea,  and  swam  painfully  toward  the  boat, 
for  it  seemed  to  Ije  exhausted. 

1'liey  took  it  in,  and  it  rushed  eagerly,  not  for  a  piece  of 


'28  A    CAITAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

liivad  tliat  Dick  ISuikI  olTeroil  it  first,  but  to  n  lialf-tub  wliicli 
containod  a  little  fresh  water. 

**  This  poor  animal  is  dyin£?  of  thirst!"  cried  Pick  Sand. 

The  boat  then  sought  a  favorable  place  to  board  the  "  Wal- 
tleek  "  more  easily,  and  for  that  puri)ose  it  drew  away  a  fcAV 
strokes.  The  dog  evidently  thought  that  its  rescuers  did  not 
wish  to  go  on  board,  for  he  seized  Dick  Sand  by  liis  jacket, 
ami  his  lamentable  barks  commenced  again  with  a  new 
strength. 

They  understood  it.  Its  pantomime  and  its  language  were 
as  clear  as  a  niairs  language  could  be.  The  boat  was  brought 
immediately  as  far  as  the  larboai'd  cat-head.  Tliero  the  two 
sailors  moored  ir  firmlv,  while  Captain  Hull  and  Dick  Sand, 
setting  foot  on  the  deck  at  the  same  time  as  the  dog,  raised 
themselves,  not  without  dilliculty,  to  the  hatch  which  opened 
between  the  stumps  of  the  two  masts. 

By  this  hatch  the  two  made  their  way  into  the  hold. 

The  'MValdeck's"  hold,  half  full  of  water,  contained  no 
goods.  The  brig  sailed  with  ballast — a  ballast  of  sand  which 
had  slid  to  larboard  and  which  helped  to  keep  the  ship  on  her 
side.     On  that  head,  then,  there  was  no  salvage  to  effect. 

''Nobody  here,"  said  Captain  Hull. 

''Nobody,"  replied  the  novice,  after  having  gone  to  the 
foremost  part  of  the  hold. 

But  the  dog,  which  was  on  the  deck,  kept  on  barking  and 
seemed  to  call  the  captain's  attention  more  imperatively. 

"  Let  us  go  up  again,"  said  Captain  Hull  to  the  novice. 

Both  appeared  again  on  the  deck. 

The  dog,  running  to   them,  sought  to  draw  them  to  tlic 

poo  J). 

They  followed  it. 

Tiiere,  in  the  square,  five  bodies — undoubtedly  five  corpses 
— were  lying  on  the  iloor. 

By  the  daylight  which  entered  in  waves  by  the  opening, 
Captain  Hull  discovered  the  bodies  of  five  negi'oes. 

Dick  Sand,  going  from  one  to  the  other,  thought  he  felt 
that  the  unfortunates  were  still  l)reathing. 

"  On  board!  on  board!"  cried  Captain  Hull. 

The  two  sailors  who  took  care  of  the  boat  were  called,  and 
helped  to  carry  the  shipwrecked  men  out  of  the  poop. 

This  was  not  without  difiicnlt}',  bnt  two  minutes  after,  the 
five  blacks  were  laid  in  the  boat,  without  being  at  all  con- 
scious that  any  one  was  trying  to  save  them.     A  few  drops  of 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN.  29 

cordial,  then  a  little  fresh  water  prudently  administered, 
might,  perhaps,  recall  them  to  life. 

The  ''Pilgfrim"  remained  a  half  cable's  length  from  the 
wreck,  and  the  boat  would  soon  reach  her. 

A  girt-line  was  let  down  from  the  main-yard,  and  each  of 
the  blacks  drawn  up  separately,  reposed  at  last  on  the 
"Pilgrim's"  deck. 

The  dog  had  accompanied  them. 

"The  unhappy  creatures'."  cried  Mrs.  "W'eldon,  on  perceiv- 
ing those  poor  men,  who  were  only  inert  bodies. 

"  They  are  alive,  Mrs.  Weldon.  We  shall  save  them.  Yes, 
Ave  shall  save  them,"  cried  Dick  Sand, 

"  What  has  happened  to  them?"  demanded  Cousin  Bene- 
dict. 

"Wait  till  they  can  speak,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  "and 
they  will  tell  us  their  history.  But,  first  of  all,  let  us  make 
them  drink  a  little  water,  in  which  we  shall  mix  a  few  drops 
of  rum."     Then,  turning  round:   "Negoro!"  he  called. 

At  that  name  the  dog  stood  up  as  if  it  knew  the  sound,  its 
hair  bristling,  its  mouth  open. 

Meanwhile,  the  cook  did  not  appear. 

"  Xegorol"  repeated  Captain  liull. 

The  dog  again  gave  signs  of  extreme  fury. 

Xegoro  left  the  kitchen. 

Hardly  had  be  shown  himself  on  the  deck,  than  the  dog 
sprang  on  him  and  wanted  to  jumj)  at  his  throat. 

With  a  blow  from  the  poker  with  which  he  was  armed,  the 
cook  drove  aAvay  the  animal,  which  some  of  the  sailors  suc- 
ceeded in  holding. 

"  Do  you  know  this  dog?"  Caplain  Hull  asked  the  master 
cook. 

"  I?"  replied  Negoro.     "  T  have  never  seen  it." 

"That  is  singular,"  niiirnnucd  Dick  Sand. 


CHAPI'EU  IV. 

THE    KT'RVIVOHS    OF   THE    "WAl.DECK." 

TriE  slave  trade  was  still  carried  on,  <m  a  large  scah',  in  all 
e(|uiiioctia]  Africa.  Notwithstanding  the  English  and  French 
cruisers,  ships  loaded  with  slaves  leave  the  coasts  of  Angohi 
and  Mozambifpie  every  year  to  transport  negroes  to  various 


30  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

l>nrts  of   the  world,  and,   it   must   be   said,  of   the  civilized 
world. 

Captain  Hull  was  not  ignorant  of  it.  Though  these  parts 
wore  not  ordinarily  frequented  by  slave-ships,  lie  asked  him- 
self if  these  blacks,  whose  salvage  he  had  just  effected,  were 
not  the  survivors  of  a  cargo  of  slaves  that  the  "  AYaldcck  " 
was  going  to  sell  to  some  Pacific  colony.  At  all  events,  if 
that  was  "so,  the  Idacks  became  free  again  by  the  sole  act  of 
setting  foot  on  his  deck,  and  he  longed  to  tell  it  to  them. 

^leanwhile  the  most  earnest  care  had  been  lavished  on  the  ship- 
wrecked men  from  the  "  Waldeck."  Mrs.  "Weldon,  aided  by 
Kan  and  Dick  Sand,  had  administered  to  them  a  little  of  that 
good  fresh  water  of  which  they  must  have  been  deprived  for 
several  days,  and  that,  Avith  some  nourishment,  sufficed  to  re- 
store them  to  life. 

The  eldest  of  these  blacks— he  might  be  about  sixty  years 
old — was  soon  able  to  s})eak,  and  he  could  answer  in  English 
the  questions  which  were  addressed  to  him. 

"The  ship  which  carried  you  was  run  into?"  asked  Cap- 
tain Hull,  first  of  all. 

" Yes,"  replied  the  old  black.  "Ten  days  ago  our  ship 
was  struck,  during  a  very  dark  night.     We  Avere  asleep " 

"But  the  men  of  the  '  AValdeck ' — Avhat  lias  become  of 
them?" 

"  They  were  no  longer  there,  sir,  when  my  companions  and 
I  reached  the  deck." 

"Then,  Avas  the  crcAv  able  to  Jump  on  board  the  ship 
Avhich  struck  the  Waldeck?"  demanded  Captain  Hull. 

"  Perhaps,  and  Ave  must  indeed  hope  so  for  their  sakes." 

"  And  that  ship,  after  the  collision,  did  it  not  return  to 
])ick  you  up?" 

"Ko." 

"Did  she  then  go  doAvn  herself?" 

"She  did  not  founder,"  replied  the  old  black,  shaking  his 
licad,  "for  avc  could  sec  her  running  aAvay  in  the  night." 

This  fact,  which  was  attested  l)y  all  tlie  survivors  of  the 
"Waldeck,"  may  appear  incredible.  It  is  only  too  true, 
hoAA'CA-er,  that  captains,  after  some  terriVjle  collision,  due  to 
their  imprudence,  have  often  taken  flight  Avithout  troubling 
themselves  about  the  unfortunate  ones  Avhom  they  had  put  in 
daniier,  and  Avithout  endeavoring  to  carry  assistance  to  theni. 

That  drivers  do  as  much  and  leave  to  others,  on  the  public 
way,  the  trouble  of  repairing  the  misfortune  Avhich  they  have 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEJT.  31 

caused,  that  is  iudeed  to  be  condemned.  Still,  their  victims 
are  assured  of  findincf  immediate  help.  But,  that  men  to 
men,  abandon  each  other  thus  at  sea,  it  is  not  to  be  believed, 
it  is  a  shame! 

Meanwhile,  Captain  Hull  knew  several  examples  of  such 
inhumanity,  and  he  was  oblig-ed  to  tell  Mrs.  "Weldon  that  such 
facts,  monstrous  as  they  might  be,  were  unhappily  not  rare. 

Then,  continuing: 

"Whence  came  the  '  Waldeck?'"  he  asked. 

*'From  Melbourne."' 

"Then  you  are  not  slaves?" 

"Xo,  sir!"  the  old  black  answered  quickly,  as  he  stood  up 
straight.  "We  are  subjects  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  citizens  of  free  America!" 

"My  friends,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  "believe  me  that  you 
have  not  compromised  your  liberty  in  coming  on  board  of  the 
American  brig,  the  'Pilgrim.'" 

In  fact,  the  five  blacks  which  the  "Waldeck"  carried  be- 
longed to  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  oldest,  sold  in 
Africa  as  a  slave  at  the  age  of  six  years,  then  brought  to  the 
United  States,  had  been  freed  already  many  years  ago  by  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation.  As  to  his  companions,  much 
3-ounger  than  he,  sons  of  slaves  liberated  before  their  birth, 
they  were  born  free;  no  white  had  ever  had  the  right  of  prop- 
erty over  them.  They  did  not  even  speak  that  "  negro  "  lan- 
guage, which  does  not  use  the  article,  and  only  knows  the  in- 
finitive of  the  verbs — a  language  which  has  disappeared  little 
by  little,  indeed,  since  the  anti-slavery  war.  These  blacks 
had,  then,  freely  left  the  United  States,  and  they  were  re- 
turning to  it  freely. 

As  they  told  Captain  Hull,  they  were  engaged  as  laborers 
at  an  Englishman's  who  owned  a  vast  mine  near  ;Mel))ourne, 
ill  Southern  Australia.  There  they  liad  passed  three  years, 
with  great  i)r(jfit  to  themselves;  their  engagement  ended,  they 
had  wished  to  return  to  America. 

They  then  had  embarked  on  the  "  Waldeck."  paying  their 
passage  like  ordinary  passengers.  On  the  5th  of  J)eccniber 
they  left  Melbourne,  and  seventeen  days  after,  during  a  very 
black  night,  the  "  Wuldcck "  liad  been  struck  by  a  large 
steamer. 

The  blacks  were  in  bed.  A  few  seconds  after  the  collision, 
■which  was  tcrril)le,  tlu-y  rushed  on  the  deck. 


32  A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN". 

Alroadv  the  slii])'s  masts  had  fallen,  and  the  "Waldeck" 
was  lyina'  on  the  side;  hut  slie  would  not  sink,  the  water  not 
haviui^  invaded  the  hold  suthciently  to  cause  it. 

As  U)  the  eai)tain  and  crew  of  the  '*  Waldeek,"  all  had  dis- 
ajipeared,  Avhether  sonic  luid  heen  i)recii)itiited  into  the  sen, 
whether  others  were  caufjht  on  the  rigging  of  the  colliding 
ship,  which,  after  the  collision,  had  lied  to  return  no  more. 

The  live  hlacks  were  left  alone  on  hoard,  on  a  lialf-capsizcd 
hull,  twelve  hundred  miles  from  any  land. 

The  oldest  of  the  negroes  was  luimcd  Tom.  His  age,  as 
well  as  his  energetic  character,  and  his  experience,  often  put 
to  the  proof  during  a  long  life  of  lahor,  made  him  the  natu- 
ral head  of  the  companions  who  were  engaged  with  him. 

The  other  l)lacks  were  young  men  from  twenty-iive  to 
thirty  years  old,  wliose  names  were,  Bat  (abbreviation  of  Bar- 
tholoniew),  son  of  old  Tom,  Austin,  Acteon,  and  Hercules, 
all  four  well  made  and  vigorous,  and  who  would  bring  a  high 
])ri(e  in  the  markets  of  Central  Africa.  Even  though  t'ney 
liad  suffered  terribly,  one  could  easily  recognize  in  them  mag- 
nificent specimens^ of  that  strong  race,  on  wliich  a  liberal 
education,  drawn  from  the  numerous  schools  of  North 
America,  had  already  impressed  its  seal. 

Tom  and  his  companions  then  found  themselves  alone  on 
tne  "Waldeek"  after  the  collision,  having  no  means  of  rais- 
ing that  inert  hull,  without  even  power  to  leave  it,  because 
the  two  boats  on  board  had  been  shattered  in  the  boarding. 
They  were  reduced  to  waiting  for  the  i)assage  of  a  ship,  while 
the  wreck  drifted  little  by  little  under  the  action  of  the  cur- 
rents. This  action  explained  why  she  had  been  encountered 
60  far  out  of  her  course,  for  the  "  Waldeek,"  having  left  Mel- 
bourne, ought  to  be  found  in  much  lower  latitude. 

During  the  ten  days  which  elai)sed  between  the  collision 
and  the  moment  when  the  "  Pilgrim"  arrived  in  sight  of  the 
shijjwrecked  vessel,  the  five  blacks  were  sustained  by  some 
food  which  they  had  found  in  the  office  of  the  landing-place. 
But,  not  being  able  to  penetrate  into  the  steward's  room, 
which  the  water  entirely  covered,  they  had  luid  no  spirits  to 
quench  their  thirst,  and  they  had  suffered  cruelly,  the  water 
casks  fastened  to  the  deck  having  been  stove  in  by  the  col- 
lision. Since  the  night  before,  Tom  and  his  companions, 
tortured  by  thir':t,  had  become  unconscious. 

Such  was  the  recital  which  Tom  gave,  in  a  few  words,  to 
Captain  Hull.     There  was  no  reason  to  doubt  the  veracity  of 


A   CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN".  33 

the  old  black.     His  companions  confirmed  all  that  he  had 
said;  besides,  the  facts  pleaded  for  the  poor  men. 

Another  living  beii>g,  saved  on  the  wreck,  would  doubtless 
have  spoken  with  the  same  sincerity  if  it  had  been  gifted  with 
speech. 

It  was  that  dog,  that  the  sight  of  Negoro  seemed  to  affect 
in  such  a  disagreeable  manner.  There  was  in  that  some  truly 
inexplicable  antipathy. 

Dingo — that  was  the  name  of  the  dog — belonged  to  that  race 
of  mastiffs  Avhich  is  peculiar  to  New  Holland.  It  was  not  in 
Australia,  however,  tliat  the  captain  of  the  ''"Waldeck"  had 
found  it.  Two  years  before  Dingo,  wandering  half  dead  of 
hunger,  had  been  met  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Congo.  The  captain  of  the  "Waldeck" 
had  picked  up  this  fine  animal,  who,  being  not  very  sociable, 
seemed  to  be  always  regretting  some  old  master,  from  whom 
he  had  been  violently  separated,  and  whom  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  find  again  in  that  desert  country.  S.  V. — those 
two  letters  engraved  on  his  collar — were  all  that  linked  this 
animal  to  a  past,  whose  mystery  one  Avould  seek  in  vain  to 
solve. 

Dingo,  a  magnificent  and  robust  beast,  larger  than  the  dogs 
of  the  Pyrenees,  was  then  a  su]iorb  sjiecimen  of  the  New  Hol- 
land variety  of  mastiffs.  AVhen  it  stood  up,  throwing  its 
head  hack,  it  equalled  the  height  of  a  man.  Its  agility — its 
muscular  strength,  would  be  sufficient  for  one  of  those  ani- 
mals which  Avithout  hesitation  attack  jaguars  and  panthers, 
an<l  do  not  fear  to  face  a  bear.  Its  long  tail  of  thick  hair, 
well  stocked  and  stiff. like  a  lion's  tail,  its  general  hue  dark 
fawn-color,  was  only  varied  at  the  nose  by  some  whitish 
streaks.  This  animal,  under  the  influence  of  anger,  might 
become  formidable,  and  it  will  be  understood  that  Negoro  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  reception  given  him  by  this  vigorous 
specimen  of  the  canine  race. 

Meanwhile,  Dingo,  if  it  was  not  sociable,  was  not  bad.  It 
seemed  rather  to  be  sad.  An  observation  which  had  been 
nuide  by  old  Tom  on  board  the  "  AValdeck,"  was  that  this 
dog  did  not  seem  to  like  blacks.  It  did  not  seek  to  harm 
tlicm,  but  certainly  it  shunned  them.  May  be,  on  that  Afri- 
can coast  where  it  wanden^d,  it  had  sufi'ered  some  bad  treat- 
ment fioni  the  natives.  So,  though  Tom  and  liis  companions 
w('r((  honest  men.  Dingo  was  never  drawn  toward  them. 
I)iii-ing  llie  ten  days  that,  the  ."-liipwrcckcd  dog  had   jn-isscd  on 


34  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

tlio  '' Waldock/'  it  liad  Ixopt  at  a  disianco,  food inc^  itself,  they 
know  not  how,  but  havino-  also  suH'erod  cruelly  from  thirst. 

(Such,  then,  were  the  survivors  of  this  Avreek,  uliicli  the 
first  surge  of  the  sea  "would  submerge.  No  doubt  it  would 
have  carried  only  dead  bodies  into  the  depths  of  tiie  ocean  if 
the  unexpected  arrival  of  the  "Pilgrim,"  herself  ke])t  back 
by  calms  and  contrary  winds,  had  not  permitted  Captain  Hull 
to  do  u  work  of  humanity. 

I'his  work  had  only  to  be  completed  by  bringing  back  to  their 
country  the  shi])wrecked  men  from  the  "  Waldeck,"  who,  in 
this  shipwreck,  had  lost  their  savings  of  three  years  of  labor. 
1'his  is  what  was  going  to  be  done.  The  "  Pilgrim,"  after 
luiving  elfected  her  unloading  at  A'aljiaraiso,  would  ascend  the 
American  coast  as  far  as  Californiu.  There  Tom  and  his 
companions  Avould  be  well  received  bv  James  W.  Weldon — 
his  generous  Avifc  assured  them  of  it — and  they  would  be  i)ro- 
vided  with  all  that  would  be  necessary  for  them  to  return  to 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

These  honest  men,  reassured  about  the  future,  had  only  to 
thank  Mrs.  Weldon  and  Captain  Hull.  Certainly  they  owed 
them  a  great  deal,  and  although  they  were  only  poor  negroes, 
perhaps,  they  did  not  despair  of  some  day  paying  this  debt  of 
gratitude. 


CHAPTER  V. 

s.    V. 

Meanwhile,  the  *'  Pilgrim  "  had  continued  her  course, 
making  for  the  east  as  much  as  possible.  This  lamentable 
continuance  of  calms  did  not  cease  to  trouble  Captain  Hull — 
not  that  he  was  uneasy  about  two  or  throe  weeks  delay  in  a 
passage  from  New  Zealand  to  Valparaiso,  but  because  of  the 
extra  fatigue  which  this  delay  might  bring  to  his  lady  pas- 
senger. 

Meanwhile,  Mrs.  AVoldon  did  not  complain,  and  philosoph- 
ically took  her  misfortune  in  patience. 

Tiiat  same  day,  February  2nd,  toward  evening,  the  wreck 
was  lost  sight  of. 

Captain  Hull  was  troubled,  in  the  first  place,  to  accommo- 
date Tom  and  liis  companions  as  conveniently  as  possible. 
'Jlie  crew's  (juarters  on  the  "  Pilgrim,"  built  on  the  deck  in 
tlie  form  of  a  "roufle,"  would  be  too  small  to  hold  them. 


A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN".  35 

An  arrangement  was  tlien  made  to  lodge  them  under  the 
forecastle.  Besides,  these  honest  men,  accustomed  to  rude 
labors,  could  not  be  hard  to  please,  and  with  fine  weather, 
warm  and  salubrious,  this  sleeping  place  ought  to  suffice  for 
the  whole  passage. 

The  life  on  board,  shaken  for  a  moment  from  its  monotony 
by  this  incident,  then  went  on  as  usual. 

Tom,  Austin,  Bat,  Acteon,  and  Hercules  would  indeed 
wish  to  make  themselves  useful.  But  with  these  constant 
winds,  the  sails  once  set,  there  was  nothing  more  to  do. 
Meanwhile,  when  there  was  a  veering  about,  the  old  black 
and  his  companions  hastened  to  give  a  hand  to  the  crew,  and 
it  must  be  confessed  that  when  the  colossal  Hercules  hauled 
some  rope,  they  were  aware  of  it.  This  vigorous  negro,  six 
feet  high,  brought  in  a  tackle  all  by  himself. 

It  was  joy  for  little  Jack  to  look  at  this  giant.  He  was 
not  afraid  of  him,  and  when  Hercules  hoisted  him  up  in  his 
arms,  as  if  he  were  only  a  cork  baby,  there  were  cries  of  joy 
to  go  on. 

"Lift  me  very  high,''  said  little  Jack. 

*'  There,  Master  Jack  I*'  replied  Hercules. 

"  Am  I  very  heavy?" 

"  I  do  not  even  feel  you." 

"Well,  higher  still!  To  the  end  of  your  arm!"  And 
Hercules,  holding  the  child's  two  little  feet  in  his  large  hand, 
walked  him  about  like  a  gymnast  in  a  circus.  Jack  saw  him- 
self, tall,  taller,  which  amused  him  very  much.  He  even 
tried  to  make  himself  heavy — which  the  colossus  did  not  per- 
ceive at  all. 

Dick  Sand  and  Hercules,  they  were  two  friends  for  little 
Jack.  He  v.as  not  slow  in  making  himself  a  third — that  was 
Hingo. 

It  has  been  said  that  Dingo  was  not  a  sociable  dog.  Doubt- 
less t^a.  held  good,  because  the  society  of  the  "  Waldeck  " 
did  not  suit  it.  On  board  the  "  Pilgrim  "  it  was  quite  an- 
other thing.  Jack  probably  knew  how  to  touch  the  fine  ani- 
mal's heart.  1'lie  latter  soon  took  pleasure  in  ])laying  with 
the  little  boy,  whom  this  ])lay  pleased.  It  was  soon  discov- 
ered that  Dingo  was  one  of  those  dogs  who  have  a  ])arlicular 
taste  for  children.  Besides,  Jack  did  it  no  hairii.  His 
greatest  pleasure  was  to  transform  Dingo  into  a  swift  steed, 
and  it  is  safe  to  aflirni  that  a  horse  of  this  kind  is  mu(;h  su- 
perior to  a  pusteboanl  (|u;ulru|)e(l,  even  when  il  has  wheels  to 


3(3  A  CArrAiN  at  fifteen. 

its  foot.  So  Jack  cjallopod  l)aiv-l)ack  on  tlie  dog,  wliich  let 
liiin  do  it  willini^ly,  and,  in  truth.  Jack  was  no  heavier  to  it 
than  tlio  lialf  of  a  joekey  to  a  race-horso. 

liut  wliat  a  break  each  day  in  tlie  stock  of  sugar  in  tlic 
store-room! 

Dingo  soon  became  a  favorite  with  the  whole  crew.  Alone, 
Xegoro  continued  to  avoid  any  encounter  with  the  animal, 
whoso  antipathy  was  always  as  strong  as  it  was  inex})lical)]e. 

,Moanwhik\  little  Jack  had  not  neglected  Dick  Sand,  his 
friend  of  old,  for  Dingo,  All  the  time  that  was  unclaimed 
by  his  duties  on  board,  the  novice  passed  with  the  little  boy. 

^fi's.  Weldon,  it  is  needless  to  say,  always  regarded  this  in- 
timacy with  the  most  complete  satisfaction. 

One  day.  February  6th,  she  spoke  of  Dick  to  Captain  Hull, 
and  the  captain  ])raised  the  young  novice  in  the  highest  terms. 

'•That  boy,''  he  said  to  Mrs.  Weldon,  "will  be  a  good  sea- 
man some  dav,  I'll  guarantee.  He  has  truly  a  passion  for  the 
sea,  and  by  this  passion  he  makes  up  for  the  theoretical  parts 
of  the  calling  which  he  has  not  yet  learned.  AVhat  he  al- 
ready knows  is  astonishing,  when  we  think  of  the  short  time 
he  has  had  to  learn." 

"  It  must  be  added," replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "that  he  is  also 
an  excellent  person,  a  true  boy,  very  superior  to  his  age,  and 
who  has  never  merited  any  blame  since  we  have  known  him.'' 

"Yes,  he  is  a  good  young  man,"  contmued  the  captain, 
"justly  loved  and  appreciated  ])y  all." 

"This  cruise  finished,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "I  know  that 
my  husband's  intention  is  to  have  him  follow  a  course  of  nav- 
igation, so  that  he  may  afterwards  obtain  a  captain's  commis- 
sion." 

^  "  And  Mr.  Weldon  is  right,"  replied  Captain  Hull.  "  Dick 
Sand  will  one  day  do  honor  to  the  American  marine." 

"  This  poor  or})han  commenced  life  sadly,"  observed  Mrs. 
Weldon.     "He  has  boon  in  a  hard  school!" 

"Doubtless,  Mrs.  Weldon;  but  the  lessons  have  not  been 
lost  on  him.  lie  has  learned  that  he  must  make  his  own  way 
in  this  world,  and  he  is  in  a  fair  way  to  do  it." 

"  Yes,  the  way  of  duty!" 

"Look  at  him  now.  Mrs.  Weldon,"  continued  Captain  Hull." 
"  He  is  at  the  helm,  his  eye  fixed  on  the  point  of  the  foresail. 
No  distraction  on  the  part  of  this  young  novice,  as  well  as  no 
lurch  to  the  ship.  Dick  Sand  has  already  the  confidence  of 
an  old  steersman.     A  good  beginning  for  a  seaman.     Our 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  37 

craft,  ^f rs.  AYeldon,  is  one  of  those  in  which  it  is  necessary  to 
begin  verv  young.  He  who  has  not  been  a  cabin-boy  will 
never  arrive  at  being  a  perfect  seaman,  at  least  in  the  mer- 
chant marine.  Everything  must  be  learned,  and,  conse- 
quently, everything  must  be  at  the  same  time  instinctive  and 
rational  with  the  sailor — the  resolution  to  grasp,  as  well  a^ 
the  skill  to  execute." 

"  Meanwhile,  Captain  Hull,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "good 
officers  are  not  lacking  in  the  nav}-." 

'-'Xo,"  replied  Captain  Hull;  ""but,  in  my  opinion,  the 
best  have  almost  all  begun  their  career  as  children,  and,  with- 
out speaking  of  Xelson  and  a  few  others,  the  worst  are  not 
those  who  began  by  being  cabin-boys." 

At  that  moment  they  saw  Cousin  Benedict  springing  up 
from  the  rear  companion-way.  As  usual  he  was  absorbed, 
and  as  little  conscious  of  this  world  as  the  Prophet  Elias  will 
be  when  he  returns  to  tlie  earth. 

Cousin  Benedict  began  to  walk  about  on  the  deck  like  an 
uneasy  spirit,  examining  closely  the  interstices  of  the  netting, 
rummaging  under  the  hen-cages,  putting  his  hand  between 
the  seams  of  the  deck,  there,  where  the  pitch  had  scaled  off. 

"Ah I  Cousin  Benedict,"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon,  "do  you 
keep  well?" 

"  Yes — Cousin  Weldon — I  am  well,  certainly — but  I  am  in 
a  hurry  to  get  on  land." 

"  What  are  you  looking  fcr  under  that  bench,  ^fr.  Bene- 
dict?" asked  Captain  Hull. 

"  Insects,  sir,"  returned  Cousin  Benedict.  "What  do  you 
exi)ect  me  to  look  for,  if  not  insects?" 

"  Insects  I  Faith,  I  must  agree  with  you;  but  it  is  not  at 
sea  that  you  will  enrich  your  collection." 

"  And  why  not,  sir?  It  is  not  impossible  to  find  on  board 
some  specimen  of " 

"Cousin  Benedict,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "do  you  then 
slander  Captain  Hull?  His  ship  is  so  well  kept,  that  you  will 
return  empty-handed  from  your  hunt." 

Ca|)tain  lIuU  began  to  laugh. 

"Mrs.  Weldon  exaggerates,"  replied  he.  "However,  Mr. 
lienedict,  I  believe  you  will  lose  your  time  rummaging  in  our 
cabins." 

"Ah!  I  know  it  well,"  cried  Cousin  Benedict,  shrugging 
his  shoulders.      "  I  have  had  a  good  search " 

"  I'.Mt,  in   tlif    '  I'ilgrini's'   hold,"  e(tntiniicil  Cuptain  Ifnll, 


38  A    CAl'TAIN'    AT    FIFTEEN. 

•'  porhnps  you  will  fiiul  some  cockroaches — subjects  of  little 
inlorost,  however." 

"  Of  little  interest,  those  nocturnal  orthopters  Avhich  have 
incurred  the  maledictions  of  Virfjil  and  Horace!"  retorted 
Cousin  Benedict,  standing  up  straight.  "Of  little  interest, 
tliose  near  relations  of  the  '  jieriplaneta  oricntalis'  and  of  the 
American  kakerlac,  which  inhal)it " 

'"  Which  infest!"  said  Captain  Hull. 

"Which  reign  on  board!"  retorted  Cousin  Benedict, 
fiercely. 

*'  Amiable  sovereignty!" 

"Ah!  you  are  not  an  entomologist,  sir?" 

"Never  at  my  own  expense." 

"  Xow,  Cousin  Benedict,"  said  Mrs.  Wcldon,  smiling,  "  do 
not  wish  us  to  be  devoured  for  love  of  science." 

"  I  wish  nothing.  Cousin  Wcldon,"  replied  the  fiery  en- 
tomologist, "  except  to  be  able  to  add  to  my  collection  some 
rare  subject  which  might  do  it  honor." 

"Are  you  not  satistied,  then,  with  the  conquests  that  you 
have  made  in  Kew  Zealand?" 

"Yes,  truly.  Cousin  Wcldon.  I  have  been  rather  fortu- 
nate in  conquering  one  of  those  new  staphylins  which  till  now 
had  only  been  found  some  hundreds  of  miles  further,  in  New 
Caledonia." 

At  that  moment  Dingo,  who  was  playing  with  Jack,  ap- 
proached Cousin  Benedict,  gamboling. 

"Go  away!  go  away!"  said  the  latter,  pushing  off  the 
animal. 

"  To  love  cockroaches  and  detest  dogs!"  cried  Captain  Hull. 
"Oh!  Mr.  Benedict!" 

"  A  good  dog,  notwithstanding,"  said  little  Jack,  taking 
Dingo's  great  head  in  his  small  hands. 

"Yes.  I  do  not  say  no,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict.  "But 
what  do  you  want?  This  devil  of  an  animal  has  not  realized 
the  hopes  I  conceived  on  meeting  it." 

"Ah!  my  goodness!"  cried  Mrs.  Wcldon,  "did  you,  then, 
ho])e  to  be  able  to  classify  it  in  the  order  of  the  dipters  or  the 
hymenopters?" 

"No,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  seriously.  "But  is  it  not 
true  that  this  Dingo,  though  it  be  of  the  New  Zealand  race, 
was  picked  up  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa?" 

"Nothing  is  more  true,"  replied  Mrs.  Wcldon,  "and  '^Fom 
h;;d  often  heard  the  captain  of  the  '  Waldeck  '  say  so." 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN".  39 

"Well,  I  had  thought — I  had  hoped — that  this  dog  would 
have  brought  away  some  specimens  of  hemipteres  peculiar  to 
the  African  fauna." 

"Merciful  heavensi"  cried  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"And  that  perhaps,"'  added  Cousin  Benedict,  "some  pene- 
trating or  irritating  flea — of  a  new  species " 

"Do  you  understand.  Dingo?"  said  Captain  Hulh  "Do 
you  understand,  my  dog?  You  have  failed  in  all  yonr 
tlutiesi" 

"But  I  have  examined  it  well,"  added  the  entomologist. 
with  an  accent  of  deep  regret.  "  I  have  not  been  able  to  find 
a  single  insect." 

"AVhich  you  would  have  immediately  and  mercilessly  put 
to  death.  I  hope!"  cried  Captain  Hull. 

"  Sir,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  dryly,  "  learn  that  Sir 
John  Franklin  made  a  scruple  of  killing  the  smallest  insect, 
be  it  a  mosquito,  whose  attacks  are  otherwise  formidable  as 
those  of  a  flea;  and  meanwhile  you  will  not  hesitate  to  allow, 
that  Sir  John  Franklin  was  a  seaman  who  was  as  good  as  the 
next." 

"  Surely,"  said  Captain  Hull,  bowing. 

"  And  one  day,  after  being  frightfully  devoured  by  a  dipter. 
he  blew  and  sent  it  away,  saying  to  it,  without  even  using 
thou  or  thee:  '  Go!  the  world  is  large  enough  for  you  and  for 
me!'" 

"Ah!"  ejaculated  Captain  Hull. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"AVell,  Mr.  Benedict,''  retorted  Captain  Hull,  "another 
had  said  that  long  before  Sir  John  Franklin." 

"Another?" 

"Yes;  and  that  other  was  Uncle  Toby." 

"An  entomologist?"  asked  Cousin  Benedict,  quickly. 

"No!  Sterne's  Uncle  Toby,  and  that  worthy  uncle  pro- 
nounced ])rccisely  the  same  words,  while  setting  free  a  mos- 
(|uito  that  annoyed  him,  but  which  he  thought  himself  at 
liberty  to  thee  and  thoii :  '  Go,  poor  devil,'  he  said  to  it, 
'  the  'world  is  large  enough  to  contain  us,  thee  and  me!'  " 

"An  honest  man,  that  Uncle  Toby!"  replied  Cousin  Bene- 
dict.    "  Is  he  dead?" 

"I  believe  so,  indeed."  retorted  Captain  Hull,  gravely, 
"  as  he  has  never  existed!*' 

And  each  began  to  laugh,  looking  at  Cousin  Benedict. 

'J'huH,  then,  in  these  conversations,  and  many  otlitis,  which 


40  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

inv:iri:t1)ly  Ixtro  on  Pome  ])oini()f  entomological  science,  wlien- 
ever  Cousin  lienodict  took  ])art,  ]):issed  away  long  hours  of 
this  navigation  against  contrary  -winds.  The  sea  always  line, 
liiit  winds  which  obliged  the  schooner  to  tack  often.  The 
*•  Pilgrim  "  made  very  little  headway  toAvard  the  east — the 
luvoze  was  so  feeble;  and  they  longed  to  reach  those  parts 
where  the  prevailing  winds  would  be  more  favorable. 

It  must  be  stated  here  that  Cousin  Benedict  liad  endeavored 
to  initiate  the  young  novice  into  the  mysteries  of  entomology. 
lint  Dick  Sand  had  shown  himself  ratlier  refractory  to  these 
advances.  For  want  of  better  company  the  savant  had  fallen 
back  on  the  negroes,  "who  com})rchended  nothing  about  it. 
Tom,  Acteon,  IJat,  and  Austin  had  even  linishcd  by  deserting 
the  clas^,  and  the  professor  found  himself  reduced  to  Hercules 
alone,  who  seemed  to  him  to  have  some  natural  disi^osition  to 
distinguish  a  parasite  from  a  thysanuran. 

So  the  gigantic  black  lived  in  the  world  of  coleoptei's,  car- 
nivorous insects,  hunters,  gunners,  ditchers,  cicindellcs, 
carabes,  sylphides.  moles,  cockshafers,  horn-beetles,  tene- 
brions,  mites,  lady-birds,  studying  all  Cousin  Benedict's  col- 
lection, not  but  tiie  latter  trembled  on  seeing  his  frail  speci- 
mens in  Hei-culcs'  great  hands,  which  were  hard  and  strong 
as  a  vise.  But  the  colossal  pupil  listened  so  quietly  to  the 
professor's  lessons  that  it  was  worth  risking  something  to  give 
them. 

While  Cousin  Benedict  worked  in  that  manner,  Mrs.  Wel- 
don  did  not  leave  little  Jack  entirely  nnoccupied.  She  taught 
him  to  road  and  to  write.  As  to  arithmetic,  it  was  his  friend 
Dick  Sand  who  inculcated  the  first  elements. 

At  the  age  of  five,  one  is  still  only  a  little  child,  and  is  pei*- 
haps  better  instructed  by  ]iractical  games  than  by  theoretical 
lessons  necessarily  a  little  arduous. 

Jack  learned  to  read,  not  in  a  prime,  but  by  means  of 
movable  letters,  printed  in  red  on  cubes  of  wood,  lie  amused 
himself  by  arranging  the  blocks  so  as  to  form  words.  Some- 
times ^Irs.  Weldon  took  these  cubes  and  composed  a  word; 
then  she  disarranged  them,  and  it  was  for  Jack  to  replace 
them  in  the  oider  rcfjuired. 

The  little  boy  liked  this  manner  of  learning  to  read  very 
much.  Each  day  he  passed  some  hours,  sometimes  in  the 
cabin,  sometimes  on  the  deck,  in  arranging  and  disarranging 
the  letters  of  his  alphabet. 


A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  41 

Xow,  one  day  this  led  to  an  incident  so  extraordinary,  so 
unexpected,  that  it  is  necessary  to  relate  with  some  detail. 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  February  9th,  Jack,  half-lyins;  on 
the  deck,  was  amusing  himself  forming  a  word  which  old  Tom 
was  to  put  together  again,  after  the  letters  had  been  mixed. 
Tom,  with  his  hand  over  his  eyes  so  as  not  to  cheat,  as  he 
agreed,  Avould  see  nothing,  and  did  see  nothing  of  the  work  of 
the  little  boy. 

Of  these  different  letters,  about  fifty  in  number,  some  were 
large,  others  small.  Besides,  some  of  these  cubes  carried  a 
figure,  which  taught  the  child  to  form  numbers  as  well  as  to 
form  words. 

These  cubes  were  arranged  on  the  deck,  and  little  Jack  was 
taking  sometimes  one,  sometimes  another,  to  make  a  word — a 
truly  great  labor. 

Xow,  for  some  moments.  Dingo  was  moving  round  the 
young  child,  when  suddenly  it  stopped.  Its  eyes  became 
fixed,  its  right  paw  was  raised,  its  tail  Avagged  convulsively. 
Then,  suddenly  throwing  itself  on  one  of  the  cubes,  it  seized 
it  in  its  mouth  and  laid  it  on  the  deck  a  few  steps  from  Jack. 

This  cube  bore  a  large  letter — the  letter  S. 

"Dingo,  well  Dingol"  cried  the  little  boy,  who  at  first  was 
afraid  that  his  8  was  swallowed  by  the  dog. 

But  Dingo  had  returned,  and,  beginning  the  same  perform- 
ance again,  it  seized  another  cube,  and  went  to  lay  it  near  the 
first. 

This  second  cube  was  a  large  V. 

This  time  Jack  gave  a  cry. 

At  this  cry,  Mrs.  AVeldon,  Captain  Hull,  and  the  young 
novice,  who  were  walking  on  the  deck,  assembled.  'Little 
Jack  then  told  them  what  had  just  passed. 

Dingo  knew  its  letters;  Dingo  knew  how  to  read!  That 
was  very  certain,  that!     Jack  had  seen  it! 

Dick  Sand  wanted  to  go  and  take  the  two  cubes,  to  restore 
them  to  his  friend  Jack,  but  Dingo  show'cd  him  its  teeth. 

However,  the  novice  succeeded  in  gaining  possession  of  the 
two  cubes,  and  lie  re])laced  them  in  the  set. 

Dingo  advanced  again,  seized  again  the  same  two  letters, 
and  carried  them  to  a  distance.  'J'liis  time  its  two  paws  lay 
on  them;  it  seemed  decided  to  guard  tiiem  at  all  liazards.  As 
to  tlie  other  letters  of  the  alphabet,  it  did  not  seem  as  if  it 
had  any  knowledge  of  them. 

''  Thiit  is  a  curious  thing."  saifl  Mrs.  \\  I'ldon. 


43  A   C  A  IT  A  IN-   AT   FIFTEEN. 

"  It  is,  in  fact,  very  singular,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  ^v]lo 
was  looking  attentively  at  tiic  two  letters. 

"  S.  v.,"  said  airs.'Wcldon. 

"S.  v.,"  repeated  Captain  Ilnll,  *' But  those  arc  pre- 
cisely the  letters  which  are  on  Dingo's  collar!" 

Then,  all  at  once,  turning  to  the  old  black:  "Tom,"  he 
asked,  "  have  you  not  told  me  that  this  dog  only  belonged  to 
the  captain  of  the  '  Waldcck'  for  a  short  time?" 

"In  fact,  sir,"  rejilied  Tom,  "Dingo  was  only  on  board 
two  years  at  the  most." 

"And  have  you  not  added  that  the  captain  of  the  'Wal- 
dcck '  had  picked  up  this  dog  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mouth  of  the  Congo. 
I  have  often  heard  the  captain  say  so." 

"  So,"  a^ked  Cajjtain  Hull,  "  it  has  never  been  knoAvn  to 
whom  this  dog  had  belonged,  nor  whence  it  came?" 

"Never,  sir.  A  dog  found  is  worse  than  a  child!  That 
has  no  papers,  and,  more,  it  cannot  explain." 

Captain  Hull  was  silent,  and  reflected. 

"Do  those  two  letters,  then,  awake  some  remembrance?" 
Mrs.  Weldon  asked  Captain  Hull,  after  leaving  him  to  his 
reflections  for  some  moments. 

"Yes,  Mrs.  AVeldon,  a  remembrance,  or  rather  a  coinci- 
dence at  least  singular." 

"What?" 

"  Those  two  letters  might  well  have  a  meaning,  and  fix  for 
ns  the  fate  of  an  intrepid  traveler." 

"What  do  yoii  mean?"  demanded  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"Here  is  Avhat  I  mean,  Mrs.  Weldon.  In  1871 — conse- 
quently two  years  ago — a  French  traveler  set  out,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  I'aris  Geographical  Society,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  crossing  Africa  from  tiie  west  to  the  cast.  His  point 
of  departure  was  precisely  the  mouth  of  the  Congo.  His 
I)oint  of  arrival  would  be  as  near  as  possible  to  Cape  Del  dago, 
at  the  mouths  of  the  Rovuma,  whose  course  lie  would  de- 
scend. Now,  this  French  traveler  was  named  Samuel  Ver- 
non." 

"  Samuel  Yernon !"  repeated  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Weldon;  and  those  two  names  begin  precisely 
by  those  two  letters  which  Dingo  has  chosen  among  all  the 
others,  and  which  arc  engraved  cm  its  collar." 

"Exactly,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon.  "And  that  trav- 
eler  " 


y^ 


THE    rjKArEFrl,    <IA/,ELI,KH.    WITH     KMALI,.    HIiARP     HCIKNS.    PASSKI)    WITH     THB 
RAPIDITY   OK  A   WATERBPOl'T.  — ^('«  [Ul^e    M7. 


A    CAPTAI>r   AT   FIFTEEX.  43 

"  That  traveler  set  out,'' replied  Captain  Hull,  '^  and  has 
not  been  heard  of  since  his  departure.'' 

''Never?''  said  the  novice. 

"  Xever,"  repeated  Captain  Hull. 

"What  do  jou  conclude  from  it?"'  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

*'  That,  evidently,  Samuel  Vernon  has  not  been  able  to 
reach  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  whether  he  may  have  been 
made  prisoner  by  the  natives,  whether  death  may  have  struck 
him  on  the  way." 

'*'  And  then  this  dog?" 

'^This  dog  would  have  belonged  to  him;  and,  more  fortu- 
nate than  its  master,  if  any  hypothesis  is  true,  it  would  have 
been  able  to  return  to  the  Congo  coast,  because  it  was  there, 
at  the  time  when  these  events  mxist  have  taken  place,  that  it 
was  picked  up  by  the  captain  of  the  '  Waldeck.'  " 

"But,"  observed  Mrs.  Weldon,  "do  you  know  if  this 
French  traveler  was  accompanied  on  his  departure  by  a  dog? 
Is  it  not  a  mere  suj^position  on  your  part?" 

"It  is  only  a  supposition,  indeed,  Mrs.  Weldon,''  replied 
Captain  Hull.  "But  what  is  certain  is,  that  Dingo  knows 
these  two  letters  S  and  Y,  which  are  precisely  the  initials  of 
the  two  names  of  the  French  traveler.  Xow,  under  what  cir- 
cumstances this  animal  would  learn  to  distinguish  them  is 
what  I  cannot  explain;  but,  I  repeat  it,  it  very  certainly 
knows  them;  and  look,  it  pushes  them  with  its  paw,  and 
seems  to  invite  us  to  read  them  with  it." 

In  fact,  they  could  not  misunderstand  Dingo's  intention. 

"  Then  was  Samuel  Vernon  alone  when  ho  left  the  sea-coast 
of  the  Congo?"  asked  Dick  Sand. 

"That  I  know  not,"  replied  Captain  Hull.  "However,  it 
is  probable  that  he  would  take  a  native  escort." 

At  that  moment  Xegoro,  leaving  his  post,  showed  himself 
on  the  deck.  At  first  no  one  remarked  his  presence,  and 
could  not  observe  the  singular  look  he  cast  on  the  dog  when 
he  perceived  the  two  letters  over  which  the  animal  seemed  to 
mount  guard.  But  Dingo,  having  perceived  the  master-cook, 
began  to  show  signs  of  the  most  extreme  fury. 

Xegoro  returned  immediately  to  the  crew's  quarters,  not 
without  a  menacing  gesture  at  the  dog's  skill  having  escaped 
him. 

"  There  is  some  mystery  there,"  murmured  Captain  Hull, 
who  had  lost  none  of  this  little  scene. 


44  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

"But,  eir,"  gaid  tlie  novice,  ''is  it  not  very  astonishing 
that  a  dog  should  know  the  letters  of  tlie  alphabet?" 

*'  Xol"  cried  little  Jack.  "Mamma  has  often  told  me  the 
story  of  a  dog  which  knew  liow  to  read  and  write,  and  even 
play  dominoes,  like  a  real  schoolmasterl" 

"  My  dear  child,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  smiling,  "that  dog, 
whose  name  was  Muni  to,  was  not  a  savant,  as  you  suppose. 
If  1  may  believe  wliat  has  been  told  me  about  it,  Munito 
would  not  have  been  able  to  distinguish  the  letters  which 
served  to  compose  the  words.  But  its  master,  a  clever  Amer- 
ican, having  remarked  what  fine  hearing  Munito  had,  applied 
liimself  to  cultivating  that  sense,  and  to  draw  from  it  some 
very  curious  effects." 

"How  did  he  set  to  work,  Mrs.  "Weldon?"  asked  iJick 
Sand,  whom  the  history  interested  almost  as  much  as  little 
Jack. 

"  In  this  way,  my  friend.  Yrhen  Munito  was  'to  appear' 
before  the  public,  letters  similar  to  these  were  displaved  on  a 
table.  On  that  table  the  poodle  walked  about,  waitmg  till  a 
word  was  proposed,  whether  in  a  loud  voice  or  in  a  low  voice. 
Only,  one  essential  condition  Avas  that  its  master  should  know 
the  word." 

"  And,  in  the  absence  of  its  master "  said  the  novice. 

"  The  dog  could  have  done  nothing,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon, 
"'  and  here  is  the  reason.  The  letters  spread  out  on  the  table, 
Munito  walked  about  through  this  alphabet.  When  it  arrived 
before  the  letter  which  it  should  choose  to  form  the  word 
required,  it  stopped;  but  if  it  stopjted,  it  was  because  it  heard 
the  noise — imperceptible  to  all  other-; — of  a  toothpick  that  the 
American  snapped  in  his  pocket.  That  noise  was  the  signal 
for  Munito  to  take  the  letter  and  aiTange  it  in  suitable  order." 

"And  that  was  all  the  secret?"  cried  Dick  Sand. 

"'  That  was  the  whole  secret,"  replied  Mrs.  "Weldon.  "  It 
is  very  simple,  like  all  that  is  done  in  the  matter  of  prestidigi- 
tation. In  case  of  the  American's  absence,  Munito  would  be 
no  longer  Munito.  I  am,  then,  astonished,  his  master  not 
being  there — if,  indeed,  the  traveler,  Samuel  Vernon,  has  ever 
been  its  master — that  Dingo  could  have  recognized  those  two 
letters." 

"In  fact,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  "it  is  very  astonishing. 
But,  take  notice,  there  are  only  two  letters  in  question  liere, 
two  particular  letters,  and  not  a  word  chosen  by  chance. 
After  all,  that  dog  which  rang  at  the  door  of  a  convent  to 


A   CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEX.  45 

take  possession  of  the  plate  intended  for  the  poor  passers-by, 
that  other  which,  commissioned  at  the  same  time  with  one  of 
it3  kind,  to  turn  the  spit  for  two  days  each,  and  which  refused 
to  fill  that  office  when  its  turn  had  not  come,  those  two  dogs, 
I  say,  advanced  farther  than  Dingo  into  that  domain  of  intel- 
ligence reserved  for  man.  Besides,  we  are  in  the  presence  of 
an  inscrutable  fact.  Of  all  the  letters  of  that  alphabet.  Dingo 
has  only  chosen  these  two:  S  and  Y.  The  others  it  does  not 
even  seem  to  know.  Therefore  we  must  conclude  that,  for  a 
reason  which  escapes  us,  its  attention  has  been  especialh' 
drawn  to  those  two  letters."' 

**  ^VliI  Captain  Hull.''  replied  the  young  novice,  '^"'if  Dingo 
could  speak  I     Perhaps  it  would  tell  ns  what  those  two  letters 
signify,  and  why  it  has  kept  a  tooth  ready  for  our  head  cook.*' 
"*•  And  what  a  tooth  I"'  replied  Captain  Hull,  as  Dingo,  open- 
ing its  mouth,  shov\'ed  its  formidable  fangs. 


CHAPTER  XL 

A   WHALE    IX   SIGHT. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  singular  incident  was 
made,  more  than  once,  the  subject  of  conversation  held  in 
the  stern  of  the  '*  Pilgrim  "  between  Mrs.  Wcldon.  Captain 
Hull,  and  the  young  novice.  The  latter,  more  particularly, 
experienced  an  instinctive  mistrust  with  regard  to  Xegoro, 
whose  conduct,  meanwhile,  merited  no  reproach. 

In  the  prow  they  talked  of  it  also,  but  they  did  not  draw 
from  it  the  same  conclusions.  There,  among  the  ship's  crew. 
Dingo  passed  merely  for  a  dog  that  knew  how  to  read,  and 
perhaps  even  write,  better  than  more  than  one  sailor  on  board. 
As  for  talking,  if  he  did  not  do  it,  it  was  probably  for  good 
reasons  that  lie  kept  silent. 

'•  But,  one  of  these  fine  days,"  said  the  steersman,  Bolton, 
"one  fine  day  that  dog  will  come  and  ask  us  how  we  are 
heading;  if  the  wind  is  to  the  west-northwest-half-north, 
and  we  will  have  to  answer  him  I  There  are  animals  that 
speak  I  Well,  why  should  not  a  dog  do  as  much  if  he  took  it 
into  his  head?  It  is  more  difficult  to  talk  with  a  beak  than 
with  a  moutiil'' 

''  No  doubt,"  replied  the  boatswain,  Howik.  '*  Only  it  has 
never  been  known.*' 


46  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN". 

It  would  have  astonisliod  these  braA'c  men  to  tell  them  that, 
on  the  contrary,  it  had  been  known,  and  that  a  certain  ])an- 
ish  servant  possessed  a  dog  wliich  pronounced  distinctly 
twenty  words,  ]^nt  whether  this  animal  comprehended  what 
he  said  was  a  mystery.  Very  evidently  this  dog,  whose  glot- 
tis was  organized  in  a  manner  to  enable  him  to  emit  regular 
sounds,  uttaclied  no  more  sense  to  his  words  than  do  the  par- 
roquets,  parrots,  jackdaws  and  mag])ies  to  1  heirs.  A  })hraso 
with  animals  is  nothing  more  than  a  kind  of  song  or  spoken 
cry,  borroAved  from  a  strange  language  of  Avhich  they  (lo  not 
know  the  meaning. 

However  that  might  be.  Dingo  had  become  the  hero  of  the 
deck,  of  which  fact  he  took  no  proud  advantage.  Several 
times  Captain  Hull  repeated  the  experiment.  The  wooden 
cubes  of  the  alphabet  were  ])laced  before  Dingo,  and  invaria- 
bly, without  an  error,  without  hesitation,  the  two  letters,  S 
and  V,  were  chosen  from  among  all  by  the  singular  animal, 
while  the  others  never  attracted  his  attention. 

As  for  Cousin  Benedict,  this  experiment  was  often  renewed 
before  him,  without  seeming  to  interest  him. 

"Meanwhile,"  he  condescended  to  say  one  day,  "wo  must 
not  believe  that  the  dogs  alone  have  the  privilege  of  being  in- 
telligent in  this  manner.  Other  animals  equal  them,  simply 
in  following  their  instinct.  Look  at  the  rats,  who  abandon 
the  ship  destined  to  founder  at  sea;  the  beavers,  who  knoAv 
how  to  foresee  the  rising  of  the  waters,  and  build  their  dams 
higher  in  consequence;  those  horses  of  Nicomedes,  of  Scan- 
derborg,  and  of  Opj)ien,  whose  grief  was  such  that  they  died 
when  their  masters  did;  those  asses,  so  remarkable  for  their 
memory,  and  many  other  beasts  which  have  done  honor  to 
the  animal  kingdom.  Have  Ave  not  seen  birds,  marvelously 
erect,  that  correctly  write  Avords  dictated  by  their  professors; 
cockatoos  that  count,  as  Avell  as  a  reckoner  in  the  Longitude 
Oflice,  the  number  of  persons  present  in  a  parlor?  lias  there 
not  existed  a  parrot,  Avorth  a  hundred  gold  crowns,  that  re- 
cited the  A])ostle\s  Creed  to  the  cardinal,  his  master,  Avithout 
missing  a  Avord  ?  Finally,  tlie  legitimate  pride  of  an  entomolo- 
gist should  be  raised  to  tlic  highest  i)oint,  when  he  sees  sim- 
ple insects  give  proofs  of  a  Buj)erior  intelligence,  and  affirm 
eloquently  the  axiom: 

"  'In  minimis  maximus  Deus,' 

those  ants  which  rejiresent  the  inspectors  of  public  works  in 


A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN".  47 

the  largest  cities,  tliose  aquatic  argyronetes  which  manufac- 
ture diving-bells,  without  having  ever  learned  the  mechanism; 
those  fleas  which  draw  carriages  like  veritable  coachmen, 
which  go  through  the  exercise  as  well  as  riflemen,  which  fire 
off  cannon  better  than  the  commissioned  artillerymen  of  West 
Point?  Xol  this  Dingo  does  not  merit  so  many  eulogies,  and 
if  he  is  so  strong  on  the  alphabet,  it  is,  without  doubt,  be- 
cause he  belongs  to  a  species  of  mastiff,  not  yet  classified  in 
zoological  science,  the  cants  aJphaheticus  of  IS'ew  Zealand. 

In  spite  of  these  discourses  and  others  of  the  envious  ento- 
mologist, Dingo  lost  nothing  in  the  public  estimation,  and 
continued  to  be  treated  as  a  phenomenon  in  the  conversations 
of  the  forecastle. 

All  this  time,  it  is  probable  tliat  Negoro  did  not  share  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  ship  in  regard  to  tlie  animal.  Perhaps  he 
found  it  too  intelligent.  However,  the  dog  always  showed 
the  same  animosity  against  the  head  cook,  and,  doubtless, 
would  have  brought  upon  itself  some  misfortune,  if  it  had  not 
been,  for  one  thing,  "  a  dog  to  defend  itself,"  and  for  another, 
protected  by  tlie  sympathy  of  the  whole  crew. 

So  Xegoro  avoided  commg  into  Dingo's  presence  more  than 
ever.  But  Dick  Sand  had  observed  that  since  the  incident  of 
the  two  Icttere,  the  reciprocal  antipathy  between  the  man  and 
the  dog  was  increased.     That  was  truly  inexplicable. 

On  February  10th,  th.e  wind  from  the  nortbcast,  which,  till 
then,  had  alwavs  succeeded  those  long  and  overwhelming 
calms,  during  which  tlie  ''  Pilgrim  "  was  stationary,  began  to 
abate  perceptibly.  Captain  Hull  then  could  hope  that  a 
change  in  the  direction  (jf  the  atnios})heric  currents  was  going 
to  take  place.  Perliaps  the  schooner  would  finally  sail  with 
the  wind.  It  was  still  only  nineteen  days  since  lier  de])arture 
from  the  port  of  Auckland.  I'hc  delay  was  not  yet  of  much 
account,  and,  with  a  favorable  wind,  the  "Pilgrim,"  avcII 
rigged,  would  easily  make  up  for  lost  time.  But  several  days 
must  still  elapse  l>cforc  the  breezes  would  blow  right  from  the 
west. 

This  part  of  the  Pacific  was  always  deserted.  No  vessel 
showed  itself  in  these  ]tarts.  It  was  a  latitude  truly  forsaken 
by  navigators.  'J'lic  wlialers  of  the  southern  seas  were  not  yet 
prepared  to  go  beyond  the  tropic.  On  the  "  Pilgrim,"  which 
peculiar  circumstances  had  (obliged  to  leave  the  fishing 
grounds  before  the  eiu]  of  the  season,  they  must  not  exjiecti 
to  cross  any  shij)  hound  for  the  same  destination. 


•IS  A    C'Al^AlX    AT   FIFTEEN'. 

As  to  tlio  tr;nis-p:ic'ilic  ]i;ickot-])o;its,  it  lias  l)Oon  already  said 
(hat  they  did  not  follow  so  hip^h  a  ])arallel  in  tlieir  passages 
between  Australia  and  the  American  continent. 

However,  even  if  the  sea  is  deserted,  one  must  not  give  up 
observing  it  to  the  extreme  limits  of  the  horizon.  Monoto- 
nous as  it  may  appear  to  heedless  minds,  it  is  none  the  less  in- 
finitely varied  lor  him  who  knows  how  to  comprehend  it.  Its 
slightest  changes  charm  the  imagination  of  one  who  feels  the 
jtoetry  of  the  ocean.  A  marine  herb  which  lloats  up  and  down 
on  the  "waves,  a  hranch  of  sargasso  Avhose  light  track  zebras, 
Ihe  surface  of  the  waters,  an  eiui  of  a  board,  whose  history  he 
would  wish  to  guess,  he  would  need  nothing  more.  Facing 
this  inliuite,  the  mind  is  no  longer  stopped  by  anything.  Im- 
agination runs  riot.  Each  of  tliose  molecules  of  water,  that 
evaporation  is  continually  changing  from  the  sea  to  the  sky, 
contains  perhajis  the  secret  of  some  catastroi)he.  So,  those 
are  to  be  envied,  whose  inner  consciousness  knows  how  to  in- 
terrogate the  mysteries  of  the  ocean,  those  spirits  who  rise 
from  its  moving  surface  to  the  heights  of  heaven. 

liesides,  life  always  manifests  itself  above  as  well  as  helow 
the  seas.  The  "Pilgrim's"  passengers  could  see  flights  of 
birds  excited  in  the  pursuit  of  the  smallest  fishes,  hirds 
which,  before  winter,  fly  from  the  cold  climate  of  the  poles. 
And  more  than  once,  Dick  Sand,  a  scholar  of  Mrs.  Weldon's, 
in  that  branch  as  in  others,  gave  proofs  of  marvelous  skill 
with  the  gun  and  pistol,  in  bringing  down  some  of  those 
rapid-winged  creatures. 

There  w^ere  white  petrels  here;  there,  other  petrels,  whose 
wings  were  embroidered  with  brown.  Sometimes,  also,  com- 
panies of  droniers  passed,  or  some  of  those  pcnrpiins  Avhose 
gait  on  land  is  so  heavy  and  so  ridiculous.  However,  as  Cap- 
tain Hull  remarked,  these  penquins.  using  their  stumps  like 
true  fins,  can  challenge  the  most  rapid  fishes  in  swimming,  to 
such  an  extent  even,  that  sailors  have  often  confounded  them 
with  bonitocs. 

Higher,  gigantic  albatrosses  heat  the  air  with  great  strokes, 
displaying  an  extent  of  ten  feet  between  the  extremities  of 
their  wings,  and  then  came  to  light  on  the  surface  of  the 
waters,  which  they  searched  with  their  beaks  to  get  their 
food. 

All  these  scenes  made  a  varied  spectacle,  that  only  souls 
closed  to  the  charms  of  nature  would  have  found  monotonous. 

That  day  Mrs.  Weldon  Avas  walking  aft  on  the  "Pilgrim," 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEJ^".  49 

when  a  rather  curious  phenomenon  attracted  her  attention. 
The  waters  of  the  sea  had  become  reddish  quit§  suddenly. 
One  might  have  beheved  that  they  had  Just  been  stained  with 
blood;  and  this  inexplicable  tinge  extended  as  far  as  the  eye 
conld  reach. 

Dick  Sand  was  then  with  little  Jack  near  Mrs.  TVeldon. 

"  Dick,"  she  said  to  the  young  novice,  "do  you  see  that 
singular  color  of  the  waters  of  the  Pacific?  Is  it  due  to  the 
presence  of  a  marine  herb?" 

''Xo,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "that  tinge  is 
produced  by  myriads  of  little  crustaceans,  which  generally 
serve  to  nourish  the  great  mammifers.  Fishermen  call  that, 
not  without  reason,  '  whales'  food.'  " 

"Crustaceans!"'  said  Mrs.  AVeldon.  "But  they  are  so 
small  that  we  might  almost  call  them  sea  insects.  Perhaps 
Cousin  Benedict  would  be  very  much  enchanted  to  make  a 
collection  of  them."  Then  calling:  "  Cousin  Benedict!"  cried 
she. 

Cousin  Benedict  appeared  out  of  the  companion-way  almost 
at  the  same  time  as  Captain  Hull. 

"  Cousin  Benedict,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "see  that  immense 
reddish  field  which  extends  as  far  as  we  can  see." 

"  Hold!"  said  Captain  Hull.  "  That  is  whale's  food.  Mr. 
Benedict,  a  fine  occasion  to  study  this  curious  species  of 
Crustacea. " 

"  Phew!"  from  the  entomologist. 

"How — phew!"  cried  the  captain.  "But  you  have  no 
right  to  profess  such  indifference.  These  crustaceans  form 
one  of  the  six  classes  of  the  articulates,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
and  as  sucli " 

"  Phew!"  said  Cousin  Benedict  again,  sliaking  his  head. 

"  For  instance I  find  you  i)assal)Iy  disdainful  for  an 

entomologist!" 

"Entomologist,  it  may  be,"  replied  Cousin  ]5cncdict,  "but 
more  particularly  hexapodist,  Ca])tain  Hull,  please  remember." 

"  At  all  events,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  "  if  these  crustaceans 
do  not  interest  you,  it  can't  ])e  lielped;  but  it  would  be  other- 
wise if  you  possessed  a  whale's  stomach.  Then  what  a  regale! 
i)o  you  see,  Mrs,  Weldon,  when  we  whalers,  during  the  fish- 
ing season,  arrive  in  sight  of  a  shoal  of  these  crustaceans,  wc 
have  only  time  to  ])rei)are  our  har])oons  and  our  lines.  Wc 
are  certain  that  the  game  is  not  distant." 


50  A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

"Is  it  po?;si])lo  I  hat  such  little  beasts  can  feed  such  large 
oncsy"  criod  Jack. 

"Ah!  my  hoy,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  "little  grains  of 
verinieelli,  of  ilour,  of  IVcula  ]K)W{ler,  do  they  not  make  very 
good  i)()rridgo?  Yes;  and  nature  has  willed  that  it  should  be 
so.  AN'hen  a  whale  lloats  in  the  midst  of  these  red  waters,  its 
soup  is  served;  it  has  only  to  oi)en  its  immense  mouth. 
Myriads  of  crustaceans  enter  it.  The  numerous  plates  of 
those  whalebones  with  which  the  animal's  ])alate  is  furnished, 
serve  to  strain  like  lisliermen's  nets;  nothing  can  get  out  of 
them  again,  and  the  mass  of  crustaceans  is  ingulfed  in  the 
whale's  vast  stomach,  as  the  soup  of  your  dinner  in  yours." 

"You  think  right,  Jack,"  observed  Dick  Sand,  "that 
]\radam  "Whale  does  not  lose  time  in  picking  these  crustaceans 
one  by  one,  as  you  })ick  shrimj)s." 

"  1  may  add,"  said  Captain  Hull,  "that  it  is  just  when  the 
enormous  gourmand  is  occupied  in  this  way,  that  it  is  easiest 
to  ajiproach  it  without  exciting  its  susi)icion.  That  is  the 
favorable  moment  to  harpoon  it  with  some  success." 

At  that  instant,  and  as  if  to  corroborate  Ca})tain  Hull,  a 
failor's  voice  Avas  heard  from  the  front  of  the  ship: 

"A  whale  to  larboard!" 

Captain  Hull  strode  up. 

"A  whale!"  cried  he. 

And  his  fisherman's  instinct  urging  him,  he  hastened  to 
the  "  Pilgrim's  "  forecastle. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  Jack,  Dick  Sand,  Cousin  Benedict  himself, 
followed  him  at  once. 

In  fact,  four  miles  to  windward  a  certain  Iniljbling  indi- 
cated that  a  huge  marine  mammifcr  Avas  moving  in  the 
midst  of  the  red  Avaters.  Whalers  could  not  be  mistaken  in 
it.  But  the  distance  was  still  too  considerable  to  make  it 
possible  to  recognize  the  species  to  which  this  mammifer  be- 
longed.    These  species,  in  fact,  are  finite  distinct. 

Was  it  one  of  those  "  right "  whales,  which  the  fishermen 
of  the  Xorthern  Ocean  seek  most  particularly?  Those  ceta- 
ceans, which  lack  the  dorsal  fin,  but  whose  skin  coA'ers  a 
thick  stratum  of  lard,  may  attain  a  length  of  eighty  feet, 
though  the  average  does  not  exceed  sixty,  and  then  a  single 
one  of  those  monsters  furnishes  as  much  iis  a  hundred  barrels 
of  oil. 

Was  it,  on  the  contrary,  a  "humpback,"  belonging  to  the 
species  of  baloenoptcrs,  a  designation  whose  termination  should 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  51 

at  least  gain  it  the  entomologist's  esteem?  These  possess 
dorsal  fins,  white  in  color,  and  as  long  as  half  the  body,  which 
resemble  a  pair  of  wings — something  like  a  flying  whale. 

Had  they  not  in  view,  more  likely,  a  "finback"  mammi- 
fer,  aswelfknown  by  the  name  *'jubarte,"  which  is  provided 
with  a  dorsal  fin,  and  whose  length  may  equal  that  of  the 
"right"  whale? 

Captain  Hull  and  his  crew  could  not  yet  decide,  but  they 
regarded  the  animal  with  more  desire  than  admiration. 

If  it  is  true  that  a  clockmaker  cannot  find  himself  in  a 
room  in  the  ]n*csence  of  a  clock  without  experiencing  the  ir- 
resistible wish  to  wind  it  up.  how  much  more  must  the 
whaler,  before  a  whale,  be  seized  with  the  imperative  desire  to 
take  possession  of  it?  The  hunters  of  large  game,  they  say, 
are  more  eager  than  the  hitnters  of  small  game.  Then,  the 
larger  the  animal,  the  more  it  excites  covetousness.  Then, 
how  should  hunters  of  elephants  and  fishers  of  whalers  feel? 
And  then  there  was  that  disappointment,  felt  by  all  the 
"  Pilgrim's"  crew,  of  returning  with  an  incomplete  cargo. 

^lean while,  Captain  Hull  tried  to  distinguish  the  animal 
which  had  been  signalled  in  the  offing.  It  was  not  very  visi- 
ble from  that  distance.  Nevertheless,  the  trained  eye  of  a 
whaler  could  not  be  deceived  in  certain  details  easier  to  dis- 
cern at  a  distance. 

In  fact,  the  water-spout,  that  is,  that  column  of  vapor  and 
water  which  the  whale  throws  back  by  its  rents,  would  at- 
tract Captain  Hull's  attention,  and  fix  it  on  the  species  to 
which  this  cetacean  belonged. 

"  That  is  not  a  '  right '  whale,"  cried  he.  '*'  Its  water-spout 
would  be  at  once  higher  and  of  a  smaller  volume.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  noise  made  by  that  spoitt  in  escaping  could 
be  compared  to  the  distant  noise  of  a  cannon,  I  should  be  led 
to  l)elieve  that  that  whale  belongs  to  the  species  of  'hump- 
backs;' but  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind,  and,  on  listening, 
Avc  are  assured  that  this  noise  is  of  quite  a  different  nature. 
What  is  your  oi)inion  on  this  subject,  Dick?"  asked  Captain 
Hull,  turning  toward  tlie  novice. 

"T  am  ready  to  believe,  captain,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "that 
wc  have  to  do  with  a  jubarte.  See  how  his  rents  throw  that 
cf»hiinn  of  liquid  violently  into  the  air.  Docs  it  not  seem  to 
you  also — which  would  confirm  mv  idcit — that  tliat  spout  con- 
tains more  water  than  cond(mso<l  vapor?  And,  if  I  am  not 
mistaken,  it  is  a  Bpecial  peculiarity  of  the  jubarte." 


53  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

"In  fact,  Dick,"  ro])licd  Captain  Hull,  "there  is  no  longer 
any  doubt  possible!  Jt  is  a  jubartc  which  floats  on  the  sur- 
face of  those  red  waters." 

"That's  line,"  cried  little  Jack. 

"Yes,  my  boy!  and  when  we  think  that  the  great  beast  is 
there,  in  process  of  breakfasting,  and  little  suspecting  that 
the  wlialers  are  watching  it." 

"  I  wonld  dare  to  atlirm  that  it  is  a  jubarte  of  great  size," 
observed  Dick  Sand. 

"  Truly,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  who  was  gradually  becom- 
ing more  excited.     "I  think  it  is  at  least  seventy  feet  long!" 

"  Good!"  added  the  boatswain.  "  Half  a  dozen  whales  of 
that  size  would  sutticc  to  fdl  a  ship  as  large  as  ours!" 

"  Yes,  that  would  be  sutficient,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  who 
mounted  on  the  bowsprit  to  see  better. 

"And  with  this  one,"  added  the  boatswain,  "we  should 
take  on  board  in  a  few  hours  tlie  half  of  the  two  hundred 
barrels  of  oil  which  avc  lack." 

"Yes! — truly — yes!"  murmured  Captain  Hull. 

"That  is  true,"  continued  Dick  Sand;  "but  it  is  some- 
times a  hard  matter  to  attack  those  enormous  jubartes!" 

"Very  hard,  very  hard!"  returned  Captain  Hull.  "Those 
balcenopters  have  formidable  tails,  which  must  not  bo  ap- 
proached without  distrust.  The  strongest  pirogue  would  not 
resist  a  well-given  blow.  But,  then,  the  profit  is  worth  the 
trouble!" 

"Bah!"  said  one  of  the  sailors,  "a  fine  jubarte  is  all  the 
same  a  fine  capture!" 

"And  profital^le!"  replied  another. 

"It  would  be  a  pity  not  to  salute  this  one  on  the  way!" 

It  was  evident  that  these  brave  sailors  were  growing  excited 
in  looking  at  the  whale.  It  was  a  whole  cargo  of  barrels  of 
oil  that  was  floating  Avithin  reach  of  their  hands.  To  hear 
them,  Avithout  doubt  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  done,  ex- 
cei)t  to  stow  those  barrels  in  the  "Pilgrim's"  hold  to  com- 
])lete  her  lading.  Some  of  the  sailors,  mounted  on  the  rat- 
lines of  the  foreshrouds,  uttered  longing  cries.  Captain  Hull, 
who  no  longer  spoke,  was  in  a  dilemma.  There  was  some- 
thing there,  like  an  irresistible  magnet,  which  attracted  the 
"Pilgrim"  and  all  her  crew. 

"Mamma,  mamma!"  then  cried  little  Jack,  "I  should 
like  to  have  the  whale,  to  see  how  it  is  made." 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN".  53 

"Ah!  you  wish  to  liave  this  whale,  my  boy!  Ah!  Avhy 
not,  my  friends?"  replied  Captain  Hull,  finally  yielding  to 
his  secret  desire.  ''Our  additional  fishermen  are  lacking,  it 
is  true,  but  we  alone " 

"Yes!  yes!"  cried  the  sailors,  with  a  single  voice. 

"This  will  not  be  the  first  time  that  I  have  followed  the 
trade  of  harpooner,"  added  Captain  Hull,  "and  you  will  see 
if  I  still  know  how  to  throAV  the  harpoon!" 

"Hurrah!  hurrah!  hurrah!"  responded  the  crew. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PREPARATIONS. 

It  will  be  understood  that  the  sight  of  this  prodigious 
mammifer  was  necessary  to  produce  such  excitement  on  board 
the  "Pilp-im." 

The  whale,  which  floated  in  the  middle  of  the  red  waters, 
appeared  enormous.  To  capture  it,  and  thus  complete  the 
cargo,  that  was  very  tempting.  Could  fishermen  let  such  an 
occasion  escape  them? 

However,  Mrs.  Weldon  believed  she  ought  to  ask  Captain 
Hull  if  it  v\^as  not  dangerous  for  his  men  and  for  him  to  at- 
tack a  whale  under  those  circumstances. 

"No,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  Captain  Hull.  "More  than 
once  it  has  been  my  lot  to  hunt  the  whale  with  a  single  boat, 
and  I  have  always  finished  by  taking  possession  of  it.  I  re- 
peat it,  there  is  no  danger  for  us,  nor,  consequently,  for  your- 
self." 

Mrs  Weldon,  reassured,  did  not  persist. 

Captain  Hull  at  once  made  liis  preparations  for  capturing 
the  jubarte.  He  knew  by  experience  liiat  tiie  pursuit  of  that 
baloniopter  was  not  free  from  dilliculties,  and  he  wished  to 
})arrv  all. 

Wiiat  rendered  this  capture  less  easy,  was  that  the  schoon- 
er's crew  couhl  only  work  by  means  of  a  single  boat,  while 
the  "  Pilgrim  "  [lossessed  a  long-boat,  })laced  on  its  stocks  be- 
tween the  main-mast  and  the  mizzen-mast,  besides  three 
whalc-l)oats,  of  wliich  two  were  susjicnded  on  the  larboard 
and  starboard  ])('gs,  and  the  third  aft,  outside  the  crown- 
Wf)rk. 

Generally  these  three  wiiak!-l)oat,s  were  emj)lo3-ed  simul- 
taneously in  the  pursuit  of  cataccans.     liut  during  the  fish- 


54  A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

inpf  season,  wc  know,  an  additional  crow,  hired  at  the  sta- 
tions of  New  Zealand,  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  "Pil- 
g^rini's"  sailors. 

Now,  in  the  })resent  eircumstanees,  the  "Pilgrim"  could 
only  furnish  the  live  sailors  on  board — that  is,  enough  to  arm 
a  single  whale-boat.  To  utilize  the  group  of  Tom  and  his 
I'riemis,  who  had  olTcred  themselves  at  once,  was  impossible. 
Ill  fact,  the  working  of  a  lishing  pirogue  re({uires  very  well 
tiained  seamen.  A  false  move  of  the  helm,  or  a  false  stroke 
of  an  oar,  would  be  enough  to  compromise  the  safety  of  the 
whale-boat  during  an  attack. 

On  the  other  hand,  Captain  Hull  did  not  wish  to  leave  his 
shi])  without  leaving  on  board  at  least  one  man  from  the  crew, 
in  whom  he  had  confidence.  It  was  necessary  to  provide  for 
all  eventualities. 

Xow  Ca})tain  Hull,  obliged  to  choose  strong  seamen  to  man 
the  whalc-l)oat,  was  forced  to  put  on  Dick  Sand  the  care  of 
guarding  the  "■  Pilgrim." 

"  Dick,"  said  he  to  him.  ''I  shall  charge  you  to  remain  on 
board  during  my  absence,  which  I  hope  will  be  short." 

"  Well,  sir,"  rej)lied  the  young  novice. 

Dick  Sand  would  have  wished  to  take  part  in  this  fishing, 
which  had  a  gi-eat  attraction  for  him,  but  he  understood  that, 
for  one  reason,  a  man's  arms  were  worth  more  than  his  for 
service  in  a  Avhale-boat,  and  that  for  another,  he  alone  could 
replace  Captain  Hull.  So  he  was  satisfied.  The  whale-boat's 
crew  must  be  com])osedof  the  five  men,  including  the  master, 
Howik,  which  formed  the  whole  crew  of  the  "Pilgrim." 
The  four  sailors  were  going  to  take  their  places  at  the  oars, 
and  Howik  would  hold  the  stern  oar,  which  serves  to  guide 
a  boat  of  this  kind.  A  simple  rudder,  in  fact,  would  not 
have  a  prompt  enough  action,  and  in  case  the  side  oars  should 
1)0  disabled,  the  stern  oar,  well  handled,  could  put  the  whale- 
boat  beyond  the  reach  of  the  monster's  blows. 

There  was  only  Ca])tain  Hull  besides.  Ho  had  reserved  to 
himself  the  post  of  harpooner,  and,  as  he  had  said,  this  would 
not  be  his  first  attempt.  It  Avas  ho  who  must  first  throw  the 
harpoon,  then  watch  the  unrolling  of  the  long  line  fastened 
at  its  end;  then,  finally  finish  the  animal  Avith  spears,  when  it 
should  return  to  the  surface  of  the  ocean. 

Whalers  sometimes  em})loy  firearms  for  this  kind  of  fishing. 
By  means  of  a  special  instrument,  a  sort  of  small  cannon, 
stationed  either  ou  board  the  ship  or  at  the  front  of  the  boat. 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN".  55 

they  throw  either  a  harpoon,  which  draws  with  it  the  rope 
fastened  to  its  end.  or  explosive  balls,  which  produce  great 
ravages  in  the  body  of  the  animal. 

But  tlie  "  Pilgrim  "  was  not  furnished  with  apparatus  of 
this  kind.  This  was,  besides,  an  instrument  of  high  price, 
rather  difficult  to  manage,  and  fishermen,  but  little  friendly 
to  innovations,  seem  to  prefer  the  employment  of  primitive 
weapons,  which  they  use  skilfully — that  is  to  say,  the  har- 
poon and  spear. 

It  was  then  by  the  usual  method,  attacking  the  whale  with 
the  sword,  that  Captain  Hull  was  going  to  attempt  to  cap- 
ture the  jubarte  signaled  five  miles  from  his  ship. 

Besides,  the  weather  would  favor  this  expedition.  The  sea, 
being  very  calm,  was  propitious  for  the  working  of  a  whale- 
boat.  The  wind  was  going  down,  and  the  "  Pilgrim  "  would 
only  drift  in  an  insensible  manner  while  her  crew  were  occu- 
pied in  the  offing. 

So  the  starboard  whale-boat  was  immediately  lowered,  and 
the  four  sailors  went  into  it. 

llowik  passed  them  two  of  those  long  spears  which  serve 
as  harpoons,  then  two  long  lances  with  sharp  points.  To 
those  offensive  arms  he  added  five  coils  of  those  strong  flexi- 
ble ropes  that  the  whalers  call  "lines,"  and  which  measure 
six  hundred  feet  in  length.  Less  would  not  do,  for  it  some- 
times happens  that  these  cords,  fastened  end  to  end,  are  not 
enough  for  the  "  demand,"  the  whale  plunges  down  so  deep. 

Such  were  the  different  weaj)ons  which  were  carefully  dis- 
posed in  the  front  of  the  boat. 

Ilowick  and  the  four  sailors  only  waited  for  the  order  to  let 
go  the  rope. 

A  single  place  was  vacant  in  the  prow  of  the  whale-boat — 
that  which  ('aptain  Hull  would  occu])y. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  "Pilgrim's"  crew,  before 
(putting  her,  had  In-ought  the  ship's  sails  aback.  In  other 
words,  the  yards  were  l)raced  in  such  a  manner  that  the  sails, 
counteracting  their  action,  ke])t  the  vessel  almost  stationary. 

Just  as  he  was  about  to  embark.  Captain  Hull  gave  a  last 
glance  at  his  ship.  He  was  sure  tiiat  all  was  in  order,  the 
lialliards  well  turned,  the  sails  suitably  trimmed.  As  he  was 
leaving  the  young  iicnice  on  board  during  an  absence  which 
might  last  several  hours,  he  wished,  with  a  good  reason,  that 
uidess  for  some  urgent  cause,  Dick  Sand  would  not  luive  to 
execute  a  single  manuuvre. 


5G  A   CAPTAIN"  AT  FIFTEEN". 

At  tlic  moment  of  departing  he  gave  the  young  man  some 
lust  words  of  advice. 

"  Dick,"  said  he,  ''I  leave  you  alone.  Watch  over  every- 
thing. If,  as  is  possible,  it  should  become  necessary  to  get 
the  ship  under  way,  in  case  we  should  be  led  too  far  in  pur- 
suit of  this  Jubarte,  Tom  and  his  companions  could  come  to 
your  aid  perfectly  well.  After  telling  them  clearly  what  they 
would  have  to  do,  I  am  assured  that  they  would  do  it." 

'•Yes,  Captain  Hull/'  replied  old  Tom,  "and  Mr.  Dick 
can  count  on  us." 

"Command!  command!"  cried  Bat.  ""We  have  such  a 
strong  desire  to  make  ourselves  useful." 

''  On  what  must  we  pull?"  asked  Hercules,  turning  up  the 
large  sleeves  of  his  jacket. 

"  On  nothing  just  now,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  smiling. 

"At  your  service,"  continued  the  colossus. 

"  Dick,"  continued  Captain  Hull,  "  the  Aveather  is  beauti- 
ful. The  wind  has  gone  down.  There  is  no  indication  that 
it  will  freshen  again.  Above  all,  whatever  may  happen,  do 
not  jiut  a  boat  to  sea,  and  do  not  leave  the  ship." 

"  That  is  understood." 

"  If  it  should  become  necessary  for  the  '  Pilgrim '  to  come 
to  us,  I  shall  make  a  signal  to  you,  by  hoisting  a  flag  at  the 
end  of  a  boat-hook." 

"Eest  assured,  captain,  I  shall  not  lose  sight  of  the  whale- 
boat,"  replied  Dick  Sand. 

"  Good,  my  boy,"  replied  Captain  Hull.  "  Courage  and  cool- 
ness. Behold  yourself  assistant  captain.  Do  honor  to  your 
grade.     Xo  one  has  been  such  at  your  age!" 

Dick  Sand  did  not  reply,  but  he  blushed  while  smiling. 
Cai)tain  Hull  understood  that  blush  and  that  smile. 

"  The  honest  boy!"  he  said  to  himself;  "  modesty  and  good 
humor,  in  truth,  it  is  just  like  him!" 

Meanwhile,  by  these  urgent  recommendations,  it  was  plain 
that,  even  though  there  would  be  no  danger  in  doing  it,  Cap- 
tain Hull  did  not  leave  his  ship  willingly,  even  for  a  few 
hours.  But  an  irresistible  fisherman's  instinct,  above  all,  the 
strong  desire  to  complete  his  cargo  of  oil,  and  not  fall  short 
of  the  engagements  made  by  James  W.  AVeldon  in  Valparaiso, 
all  that  told  him  to  attempt  the  adventure.  Besides,  that 
sea,  so  fine,  was  marvelously  conducive  to  the  pursuit  of  a 
cetacean.  Neither  his  crew  nor  he  could  resist  such  a  tempta- 
tion.    The  fishing  cruise  would  be  finally  complete,  and  this 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  57 

last  consideration  touched  Captain  Hull's  heart  above  every- 
thing. 

Captain  Hull  went  toward  the  ladder. 

"I  wish  vou  success."  said  Mrs.  Weldou  to  him. 

*' Thank  you,  Mrs.- Weldon." 

"I  beg  you,  do  not  do  too  much  harm  to  the  poor  whale," 
cried  little  Jack. 

"No,  my  boy,"  replied  Captain  Hull. 

*'Take  it  very  gently,  sir." 

"  Yes — with  gloves,  little  Jack." 

'•Sometimes,"  observed  Cousin  Benedict,  '*we  find  rather 
curious  insects  on  the  back  of  these  large  mammals." 

"AVell,  Mr.  Benedict,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  laughing, 
"you  shall  have  the  right  to  '  entomologize '  when  our  jubarte 
will  be  alongside  of  the  'Pilgrim.'" 

Then  turning  to  Tom: 

"  Tom,  I  count  on  your  companions  and  you,"  said  he,  "  to 
assist  us  in  cutting  up  the  whale,  when  it  is  lashed  to  the 
ship's  hull — whicli  will  not  be  long." 

"At  vour  disposal,  sir,"  replied  the  old  black. 

"Good!"  replied  Captain  Hull. 

"  Dick,  these  honest  men  will  aid  you  in  preparing  the 
empty  barrels.  During  our  absence  they  will  bring  them  on 
deck,  and  by  this  means  the  work  will  go  fast  on  our  return." 
,  "  That  shall  be  done,  captain." 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  do  not  know,  it  is  necessary 
to  say  that  the  jubarte,  once  dead,  must  be  towed  as  far  as 
the  "  Pilgrim,"  and  firmly  lashed  to  her  starboard  side. 
Then  the  sailors,  shod  in  boots,  with  cramp-hooks  would 
take  their  places  on  the  back  of  the  enormous  cetacean,  and 
cut  it  up  methodically  in  parallel  bands  marked  off  from 
the  head  to  the  tail.  T"'hese  ])ands  would  be  then  cut  across 
in  slices  of  a  foot  and  a  half,  then  divided  into  pieces,  which, 
after  being  stowed  in  the  barrels,  would  be  sent  to  the  bottom 
of  the  hold. 

Generally  the  whaling  ship,  when  the  fishing  is  over,  man- 
ages to  land  as  soon  as  ])ossiblo,  so  as  to  finish  lier  manipula- 
tions. The  crew  lands,  and  then  prf»cee(ls  to  melt  the  lard, 
which,  imdor  the  action  of  the  heat,  gives  up  all  its  useful 
part — that  is,  the  oil.  In  this  operation,  the  whale's  lard 
weiglis  about  a  third  of  its  weight. 

Hut,  under  present  circumstances,  Captain  Hull  could  not 
dream   of  jjutting   back    to  finish  that  operation.     Ho  only 


58  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

counted  on  melting  this  quantity  of  lard  at  Valparaiso.  Be- 
sides, with  winds  which  could  not  fail  to  hail  from  the  west,  he 
hoped  to  make  the  American  coast  before  twenty  days,  and 
that  lapse  of  time  could  not  com})romise  the  results  of  his 
fishing. 

The  moment  for  setting  out  had  come.  Before  the  "  Pil- 
grim's" sails  had  been  brought  aback,  she  had  drawn  a  little 
nearer  to  the  ])lace  where  the  jubarte  continued  to  signal  its 
presence  by  jets  of  vapor  and  water. 

The  jubarte  was  all  this  time  swimming  in  the  middle  of 
the  vast  red  field  of  crustaceans,  opening  its  large  mouth 
autonuitically,  and  absorbing  at  each  draught  myriads  of  ani- 
malcules. 

According  to  the  experienced  ones  on  board,  there  was  no 
fear  that  the  whale  dreamt  of  escaping.  It  was,  doubtless, 
what  the  w^halers  call  a  "fighting"  whale. 

Captain  Hull  strode  over  the  netting,  and,  descending  the 
rope  ladder,  he  reached  the  prow  of  the  whale-boat. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  Jack,  Cousin  Benedict,  Tom,  and  his  com- 
panions, for  a  last  time  wished  the  captain  success. 

Dingo  itself,  rising  on  its  paws  and  passing  its  head  above 
the  railing,  seemed  to  wish  to  say  good-bye  to  the  crew. 

Then  all  returned  to  the  i)row,  so  as  to  lose  none  of  the 
very  attractive  movements  of  such  a  fishing. 

The  whale-boat  put  off,  and,  under  the  impetus  of  its  four 
oars,  vigorously  handled,  it  began  to  distance  itself  from  the 
"  Pilgrim." 

"Watch  well,  Dick,  watch  well!"  cried  Captain  Hull  to 
the  young  novice  for  the  last  time. 

"Count  on  me,  sir." 

"  One  eye  for  the  ship,  one  eye  for  the  whale-boat,  my  boy. 
Do  not  forget  it." 

"That  shall  be  done,  captain,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  Avho 
went  to  take  his  place  near  the  helm. 

Already  the  light  boat  was  several  hundred  feet  from  the 
ship.  Captain  Hull,  standing  at  the  prow,  no  longer  able  to 
make  himself  heard,  renewed  his  injunctions  by  the  most  ex- 
pressive gestures. 

It  was  then  that  Dingo,  its  paws  still  resting  on  the  railing, 
gave  a  sort  of  lamentable  bark,  Avhich  would  have  an  unfavor- 
al;le  effect  upon  men  somewhat  given  to  superstition. 

That  bark  even  made  Mrs.  Weldon  shudder. 


"  TIIEIIE— TUEIIE:"  CKIEU  TOM,   "  ON  THOHE  TUEES -IlLOi  il>  SI  A  I  NS  '      AMI      nN 
THE  OKOUND— MTTILATED  l.lUnH'."— ike  J)tl(/e  157. 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  59 

*' Dingo,"  said  she,  ''Dingo,  is  that  the  way  you  encourage 
your  friends?  Come,  now,  a  fine  bark,  very  clear,  very  sonor- 
ous, very  joyful." 

But  the  dog  barked  no  more,  and,  letting  itself  fall  back  on 
its  paws,  it  came  sloAvly  to  Mrs.Weldon,  whose  hand  it  licked 
affectionately. 

"  It  does  not  wag  its  tail,"  murmured  Tom  in  a  low  tone. 
*'  Bad  sign — bad  sign." 

But  almost  at  once  Dingo  stood  up,  and  a  howl  of  anger 
escaped  it. 

Mrs.  Weldon  turned  round. 

Xegoro  had  just  left  his  quarters,  and  was  going  toward  the 
forecastle,  with  the  intention,  no  doubt,  of  looking  for  him- 
self at  the  movements  of  the  whale-boat. 

Dingo  rushed  at  the  head  cook,  a  prey  to  the  strongest  as 
well  as  to  the  most  inexplicable  fury. 

Negoro  seized  a  hand-spike  and  took  an  attitude  of  defence. 

The  dog  was  going  to  spring  at  his  throat. 

"Here,  Dingo,  here!"  cried  Dick  Sand,  who,  leaving  his 
post  of  observation  for  an  instant,  ran  to  the  prow  of  the  ship. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  on  her  side,  sought  to  calm  the  dog. 

Dingo  obeyed,  not  without  repugnance,  and  returned  to 
the  young  novice  growling  secretly. 

Negoro  had  not  pronounced  a  smgle  word,  but  his  face  had 
grown  pale  for  a  moment.  Letting  go  of  his  hand-spike,  he 
regained  his  cabin. 

"  Hercules,"  then  said  Dick  Sand,  "  I  charge  you  especially 
to  watch  over  that  man," 

"  I  shall  watch,"  simply  replied  Hercules,  clenching  his 
two  enormous  fists  in  sign  of  assent, 

^frs.  Weldon  and  Dick  Sand  then  turned  their  eyes  again 
on  the  wliaio-ljoat,  which  the  four  oarsmen  bore  rapidly  away. 

It  was  nothing  but  a  speck  on  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

T  II    !•:     J  U  «  A  It  T  E 


Captain  Hull,  an  experienced  whaler,  would  leave  noth- 
ing to  chance,  "^rbe  capture  of  a  jubartc  is  a  difficult  tiling. 
No  precaution  ought  to  be  neglected.     None  was  in  this  case. 

And,  first  of  all,  Cnpdiin  IhilJ   sailed  so  as  to  come  uj)  to 


GO  A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

tlio  wh:ile  on  the  leeward,  so  that  no  noise  might  disclose  the 
boat's  a))proac'li. 

llowik  then  steered  the  whale-boat,  following  the  rather 
elongated  curve  of  that  reddish  shoal,  in  the  midst  of  which 
floated  the  jubarte.     They  wonid  thus  turn  the  curve. 

The  boatswain,  set  over  this  work,  was  a  seaman  of  great 
coolness,  who  ins])ired  Captain  Hull  with  every  confidence, 
lie  had  not  to  fear  either  hesitation  or  distraction  from 
Howik. 

'*  Attention  to  the  steering,  Howik,"  said  Captain  Hull. 
**"\Ve  are  going  to  try  to  surprise  the  jubarte.  We  will 
only  show  ourselves  when  we  are  near  enough  to  harpoon  it." 

''That  is  understood,  sir,"  replied  the  boatswain.  ''I  am 
going  to  follow  the  contour  of  these  reddish  waters,  so  as  to 
keep  to  the  leeward." 

"Good  I"  said  Captain  Hull.  "  Boys,  as  little  noise  as 
possible  in  rowing." 

The  oars,  carefully  muffled  with  straw,  worked  silently. 
The  boat,  skilfully  steered  by  the  boatswain,  iiad  reached  the 
large  shoal  of  crustaceans.  The  starboard  oars  still  sank  in 
the  green  and  limpid  water,  while  those  to  larboard,  raising 
the  reddish  liquid,  seemed  to  rain  drojDs  of  blood. 

"Wine  and  water!"  said  one  of  the  sailors. 

"Yes,"  replied  Captain  Hull,  "but  water  that  we  cannot 
drink,  and  wine  that  we  cannot  swallow.  Come,  boys,  let 
us  not  speak  any  more,  and  heave  closer!" 

The  whale-boat,  steered  by  the  boatswain,  glided  noise- 
lessly on  the  surface  of  those  half-greased  waters,  as  if  it  were 
floating  on  a  bed  of  oil. 

The  jubarte  did  not  budge,  and  did  not  seem  to  have  yet 
perceived  the  boat,  which  described  a  circle  around  it. 

Captain  Hull,  in  making  the  circuit,  necessarily  went  far- 
ther from  the  "  Pilgrim,"  which  gradually  grew  smaller  in 
the  distance.  This  rapidity  with  which  objects  diminish  at 
sea  has  always  an  odd  effect.  It  seems  as  if  we  look  at  them 
shortened  through  the  large  end  of  a  telescope.  This  optical 
illusion  evidently  takes  place  because  there  are  no  points  of 
comparison  on  these  large  spaces.  It  was  thus  with  the 
"  Pilgrim,"  which  decreased  to  the  eye  and  seemed  already 
much  more  distant  than  she  really  was. 

Half  an  hour  after  leaving  her.  Captain  Hull  and  his  com- 
jtauioiis  found  themselves  exactly  to  the  leeward  of  the  whale, 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  61 

SO  that  the  latter  occupied  an  intermediate  point  between  the 
ship  and  the  boat. 

So  the  moment  had  come  to  approach,  while  making  as  lit- 
tle noise  as  possible.  It  was  not  impossible  for  them  to  get 
beside  the  animal  and  harpoon  it  at  good  range,  before  its  at- 
tention would  be  attracted. 

"Row  more  slowly,  boys,"  said  Captain  Hull,  in  a  low 
voice. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  replied  Howik,  "  that  the  gudgeon  sus- 
pects something.  It  breathes  less  violently  than  it  did  just 
now!'' 

*'  Silence!  silence  I"  repeated  Captain  Hull. 

Five  minutes  later  the  whale-boat  was  at  a  cable's  length 
from  the  jubarte.  A  cable's  length,  a  measure  peculiar  to 
the  sea,  comprises  a  length  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  fath- 
oms, that  is  to  say,  two  hundred  meters. 

The  boatswain,  standing  aft,  steered  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  approach  the  left  side  of  the  mammal,  but  avoiding,  with 
the  gi'eatest  care,  passing  within  reach  of  the  formidable  tail, 
a  single  blow  of  which  would  be  enough  to  crush  the  boat. 

At  the  prow  Captain  Hull,  his  legs  a  little  apart  to  main- 
tain his  equilibrium,  held  the  weapon  with  which  he  was  go- 
ing to  give  the  first  blow.  They  could  count  on  his  skill  to 
fix  that  harpoon  in  the  tnick  mass  which  emerged  from  the 
waters. 

Xear  the  captain,  in  a  pail,  was  coiled  the  first  of  the  five 
lines,  firmly  fastened  to  the  harpoon,  and  to  which  they  would 
successively  join  the  other  four  if  the  whale  plunged  to  great 
depths, 

"Are  we  ready,  boys?"  murmured  Captain  Hull. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Howik,  grasping  his  oar  firmly  in  his  large 
hands, 

"Alongsidel  alongside!" 

The  boatswain  obeyed  the  order,  and  the  whale-boat  came 
witliin  less  tlian  ton  feet  of  the  animal. 

Tlio  latter  no  longer  moved,  and  seemed  asleep. 

Whales  tlins  sur])ris('d  while  asleep  oiTer  an  easier  jn-izo,  and 
it  often  happens  that  the  first  blow  which  is  given  wounds 
them  mortally. 

"1'liis  immovableness  is  rpiitc  astonishing!"  thought  Cap- 
tain Hull.  " 'I'he  rascal  ought  not  to  be  asleep,  and  never- 
theless      There  is  something  there!" 


C)-2  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

Tlio  boatswain  thought  tlic  same,  and  he  tried  to  see  the 
opposite  side  of  tlio  animal. 

But  it  was  not  the  moment  to  reflect,  but  to  attack. 

Captain  Hull,  liolding  his  harjtoon  by  the  middle  of  the 
liandle,  balanced  it  several  times,  to  make  sure  of  good  aim, 
while  he  examined  the  jubarte's  side.  Then  he  threw  it  with 
all  the  strength  of  his  arm. 

'*  Back,  back  I"'  cried  he  at  once. 

And  the  sailors,  i)ulling  together,  made  the  boat  recoil  rap- 
idly, with  the  intention  of  prudently  putting  it  in  safety  from 
the  blows  of  the  cetacean's  tail. 

But  at  that  moment  a  cry  from  the  boatswain  made  them 
understand  why  the  whale  was  so  extraordinarily  motionless 
for  so  long  a  time  on  the  surface  of  the  sea. 

•'  A  young  Avhalel"'   said  he. 

In  fact,  the  jubarte,  after  having  been  struck  by  the  har- 
poon, was  almost  entirely  overturned  on  the  side,  thus  dis- 
covering a  young  whale,  which  she  was  in  process  of  suckling. 

This  circumstance,  as  Captain  Hull  well  knew,  would  ren- 
der the  capture  of  the  jubarte  much  more  dithcult.  The 
mother  was  evidently  going  to  defend  herself  with  greater 
fury,  as  much  for  herself  as  to  protect  her  "little  one" — if, 
indeed,  we  can  apply  that  epithet  to  an  animal  which  did  not 
measure  less  than  twenty  feet. 

jMeanwhile,  the  jubarte  did  not  rush  at  the  boat,  as  there 
was  reason  to  fear,  and  there  was  no  necessity,  before  taking 
flight,  to  quickly  cut  the  line  which  connected  the  boat  witli 
the  harpoon.  On  the  contrary,  and  as  generally  happens,  the 
whale,  folloAved  by  the  young  one,  dived,  at  hrst  in  a  very 
(bliquc  line;  then,  rising  again  with  an  immense  bound,  she 
commenced  to  cleave  the  waters  with  extreme  rapidity. 

But,  before  she  had  made  her  first  plunge.  Captain  Hull 
and  the  boatswain,  both  standing,  had  had  time  to  see  her, 
and  consequently  to  estmiate  her  at  her  true  value. 

This  jubarte  was,  in  reality,  a  Avhale  of  the  largest  size. 
From  the  head  to  the  tail,  she  measured  at  least  eighty  feet. 
Her  skm,  of  a  yellowish  brown,  was  much  varied  with  numer- 
ous spots  of  a  darker  brown. 

It  would  indeed  be  a  pity,  after  an  attack  so  happily  begun, 
to  be  under  the  necessity  of  abandoning  so  rich  a  i)rey. 

The  pursuit,  or  rather  the  towing,  liad  commenced.  The 
whale-boat,  whose  oars  had  Ix'cn  raised,  darted  like  an  arrow 
while  swinging  on  the  t(pj)s  of  the  waves. 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN".  C3 

Howik  kept  it  steady,  notwithstanding  those  rapid  and 
frightful  oscillations.  Captain  Hull,  his  eye  on  his  prey,  did 
not  cease  making  his  eternal  refrain: 

"Be  watchful.  Ilowik,  be  watchfull" 

And  they  could  be  sure  that  the  boatswain's  vigilance  would 
not  be  at  fault  for  an  instant. 

Meanwhile,  as  the  whale-boat  did  not  fly  nearly  as  fast  as 
the  whale,  the  line  of  the  harpoon  spun  out  with  such  rapidity 
that  it  was  to  be  feared  that  it  would  take  fire  in  rubl)ing 
against  the  edge  of  the  whale-boat.  So  Captain  Hull  took 
care  to  keep  it  damp,  by  filling  with  water  the  pail  at  the 
bottom  of  which  the  line  was  coiled. 

All  this  time  the  jubarte  did  not  seem  inclined  to  stop  her 
flight,  nor  willing  to  moderate  it.  The  second  line  was  then 
lashed  to  the  end  of  the  first,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it  was 
played  out  with  the  same  velocity. 

At  the  end  of  five  minutes  it  was  necessary  to  join  on  the 
third  line,  which  ran  off  under  the  water. 

The  jubarte  did  not  stop.  The  harpoon  had  evidently  not 
penetrated  into  any  vital  jiart  of  the  body.  They  could  even 
observe,  by  the  increased  obliquity  of  the  line,  that  tlie  ani- 
mal, instead  of  returning  to  the  surface,  was  sinking  into 
lower  depths. 

"The  devil!"  cried  Captain  Hull,  "but  that  rascal  will 
use  up  our  five  lines!" 

"  And  lead  us 'to  a  good  distance  from  the  '  Pilgrim,'  "  re- 
plied the  boatswain. 

"  Nevertheless,  she  must  return  to  the  surface  to  breathe," 
replied  Captain  Hull.  "  She  is  not  a  fish,  and  she  must  have 
the  provision  of  air  like  a  common  individual." 

"She  has  held  her  breath  to  run  better,"  said  one  of  the 
sailors,  laughing. 

In  fact,  tlie  line  was  unrolling  all  the  time  with  equal 
rajiidity. 

To  the  third  line,  it  was  soon  necessary  to  join  the  fourtli, 
and  that  was  not  done  without  making  the  sailors  somewhat 
anxious  touching  their  future  ])art  of  the  prize. 

"Tiie  devil!  the  devil!"  murmured  Captain  Hull.  "I 
have  never  seen  anything  like  that!     Devilish  jubarte!" 

Finally,  the  fifth*  line  had  to  be  let  out,  and  it  was  already 
half  unrolled  when  it  seemed  to  slacken. 

"(iood!  good!"  cried  Captain  Hull.  "The  line  is  less 
stiff!     The  jubarte  is  getting  tired." 


C-1:  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

At  that  moment,  the  "  Pil<rrim  "  was  more  than  five  miles 
to  tlie  leeward  of  the  whale-boat.  Captain  Hull,  hoisting  a 
llag  at  the  end  of  a  boat-hook,  gave  the  signal  to  come 
nearer. 

And  almost  at  once,  he  could  see  that  Dick  Sand,  aided  by 
Tom  and  his  companions,  commenced  to  brace  the  yards  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  trim  them  close  to  the  wind. 

But  tlic  breeze  was  feeble  and  irregular.  It  only  came  in 
short  i)utTs.  Most  ccrtainl}^,  the  **  Pilgrim "  would  have 
some  trouble  in  joining  the  whale-boat,  if  indeed  she  could 
reach  it.  Meanwhile,  as  they  had  foreseen,  the  jubarte  had 
returned  to  the  surface  of  the  water  to  breathe,  with  the  har- 
poon fixed  in  her  side  all  the  time.  She  then  remained  almost 
motionless,  seeming  to  wait  for  her  young  whale,  which  this 
furious  course  must  have  left  behind. 

Captain  Hull  made  use  of  the  oars  so  as  to  join  her  again, 
and  soon  he  was  only  a  short  distance  from  her. 

Two  oars  were  laid  down  and  two  sailors  armed  themselves, 
as  the  captain  had  done,  with  long  lances,  intended  to  strike 
the  animal. 

Ilowik  worked  skilfully  then,  and  held  himself  ready  to 
make  the  boat  turn  rapidly,  in  case  the  whale  should  turn 
suddenly  on  it. 

''Attention!"  cried  Captain  Hull.  *'Do  not  lose  a  blow! 
Aim  well,  boys!     Are  we  ready,  Ilowik?" 

"1  am  prepared,  sir,"  replied  the  boatswain,  "but  one 
thing  troubles  me.  It  is  that  the  beast,  after  having  fled  so 
rapidly,  is  very  quiet  now." 

''  In  fact,  Ilowik,  that  seems  to  me  suspicious.  Let  us  be 
careful!" 

"  Yes,  but  let  us  go  forward." 

Captain  Hull  grew  more  and  more  animated. 

The  boat  drew  still  nearer.  The  jubarte  only  turned  in 
her  place.  Her  young  one  was  no  longer  near  her;  perhaps 
she  was  trying  to  find  it  again. 

Suddenly  she  made  a  movement  with  her  tail,  which  took 
her  thirty  feet  away. 

Was  she  then  going  to  take  flight  again,  and  must  they 
take  up  this  interminable  pursuit  again  on  the  surface  of 
the  waters? 

"Attention!"  cried  Captain  Hull.  "The  beast  is  going 
to  take  a  spring  and  throw  herself  on  us.  Steer,  Howik, 
steer!" 


A   CAPTAIN'  AT  FIFTEEN.  65 

The  jubarte,  in  fiict,  had  turned  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
present  herself  hi  front  of  the  whale-boat.  Then,  beating 
the  sea  violently  with  her  enormous  fins,  she  rushed  for- 
ward. 

The  boatswain,  who  expected  this  direct  blow,  turned  in 
such  a  fashion  that  the  jubarte  passed  by  the  boat,  but  with- 
out reaching  it. 

Captain  Hull  and  the  two  sailors  gave  her  three  vigorous 
thrusts  on  the  passage,  seeking  to  strike  some  vital  organ. 

The  jubarte  stopped,  and,  throwing  to  a  great  height  two 
columns  of  Avater  mingled  with  blood,  she  turned  anew  on 
the  boat,  bounding,  so  to  say,  in  a  manner  frightful  to  wit- 
ness. 

These  seamen  must  have  been  expert  fishermen,  not  to  lose 
their  presence  of  mind  on  this  occasion. 

Howik  again  skilfully  avoided  the  Jubarte's  attack,  by  dart- 
ing the  boat  aside. 

Three  new  blows,  well  aimed,  again  gave  the  animal  three 
new  wounds.  But,  in  passing,  she  struck  the  water  so 
roughly  Avith  her  formidalile  tail,  that  an  enormous  Avave 
arose,  as  if  the  sea  Avero  suddenly  opened. 

The  whale-boat  almost  capsized,  and,  the  water  rushing  in 
over  the  side,  it  Avas  half  filled. 

"  The  bucket,  the  bucket!"  cried  Captain  Hull. 

The  tAvo  sailors,  letting  go  their  oars,  began  to  bale  out  the 
boat  rapidly,  while  the  captain  cut  the  line,  noAv  become  use- 
less. 

Xol  the  animal,  rendered  furious  by  grief,  no  longer 
dreamt  of  flight.  It  Avas  her  turn  to  attack,  and  her  agony 
threatened  to  be  terrible. 

A  third  time  she  turned  round,  "head  to  head,"  a  seaman 
Avould  say,  and  threw  herself  ancAV  on  the  boat. 

]iut  tlie  Avhale-boat,  half  full  of  Avater,  could  no  longer 
move  Avith  the  same  facility.  In  this  condition,  hoAV  could  it 
avoid  the  shock  which  tlireatened  it?  If  it  could  be  no  longer 
steered,  tiicre  Avas  still  less  poAver  toesca])e. 

And  besides,  no  matter  how  (piickly  the  boat  might  be  pro- 
})e]|('d,  the  swift  jubarte  Avould  have  always  overtaken  it  with 
a  few  bounds.  It  was  no  longer  a  question  of  attack,  but  of 
defense. 

Captain  Hull  understocjd  it  all. 

The  third  attack  of  the  aniniul  could  not  ])e  entirely  kept 
off.      Ill  passing  ahe  grazed  the  whale-boat  with  her  enormous 


66  A   TAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

dorsal  fin,  but  -witli  so  luucli  force  iluit  Ilowik  was  thrown 
down  from  his  bench. 

The  three  Unices,  unfortunately  affected  by  the  oscillation, 
this  time  missed  their  aim. 

"Howik!  llowik!"  cried  Captain  Hull,  who  himEclf  liad 
been  hardly  able  to  kee])  his  place. 

"Present!"  re])lied  the  boatswain,  as  he  got  up.  But  he 
then  perceived  that  in  his  fall  his  stern  oar  had  broken  in  the 
middle. 

'*  Another  oar!"  said  Captain  Hull. 

*'  I  have  one,"  rei)lied  Tlowik, 

At  that  moment,  a  bubblinf^  took  place  under  the  waters 
only  a  few  fathoms  from  the  boat. 

The  young  whale  had  just  reappeared.  The  jubarte  saw  it, 
and  rushed  towards  it. 

This  circumstance  could  only  give  a  more  terrible  character 
to  the  contest.     The  whale  was  going  to  fight  for  two. 

Captain  Hull  looked  toward  the  "  Pilgrim."  His  hand 
shook  the  boat-hook,  which  bore  the  flag,  frantically. 

What  could  Dick  Sand  do  that  had  not  been  already  done 
at  the  first  signal  from  the  captain?  The  "Pilgrim's"  sails 
Avere  trimmed,  and  the  wind  commenced  to  fill  them.  Un- 
happily the  schooner  did  not  possess  a  helix,  by  which  the 
action  could  be  increased  to  sail  faster. 

To  lower  one  of  the  boats,  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  blacks, 
row  to  the  assistance  of  the  captain,  would  be  a  considerable 
loss  of  time;  besides,  the  novice  had  orders  not  to  quit  the 
ship,  no  matter  what  happened.  However,  he  had  the  stern- 
boat  lowered  from  its  pegs,  and  towed  it  along,  so  that  the 
ca])tain  and  his  comj)anions  miglit  take  refuge  in  it,  in  case 
of  need. 

At  that  moment  the  jubarte,  covering  the  young  whale 
with  her  body,  had  returned  to  the  charge.  This  time  she 
turned  in  such  a  manner  as  to  reach  the  boat  exactly. 

"Attention,  HowikI"  cried  Captain  Hull,  for  the  last 
time. 

But  the  boatswain  was,  so  to  speak,  disarmed.  Instead  of 
a  lever,  whose  length  gave  force,  he  only  held  in  his  hand  an 
oar  relatively  short.  He  tried  to  put  about;  it  w'as  impossi- 
ble. 

The  sailors  knew  that  they  were  lost.  All  rose,  giving  a 
terrible  cry,  which  was  perhaps  heard  on  the  "Pilgrim." 


A    CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN.  67 

A  terrible  blow  from  the  monster's  tail  bad  just  struck  the 
■whale-boat  imdcrneath.  The  boat,  thrown  into  the  air  with 
irresistible  yiolence,  fell  back,  broken  in  three  pieces,  in  the 
midst  of  waves  furiously  lashed  by  the  Avhale's  bounds. 

The  unfortunate  sailors,  although  grievously  wounded, 
would  have  had,  perhaps,  the  strength  to  keep  up  still, 
either  by  swimming  or  by  hanging  on  to  some  of  the  floating 
wreck.  That  is  what  Captain  Hull  did,  for  he  was  seen  for 
a  moment  hoisting  the  boatswain  on  a  wreck. 

But  the  jubarte,  in  the  last  degree  of  fury,  turned  round, 
sprang  up,  perhaps  in  the  last  jiangs  of  a  terrible  agony,  and 
with  her  tail  she  beat  the  trou])led  waters  frightfully,  where 
the  unfortunate  sailors  were  still  swimming. 

For  some  minutes  one  saw  nothing  but  a  liquid  water- 
spout scattering  itself  in  sheafs  on  all  sides. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  when  Dick  Sand,  who,  followed 
by  the  blacks,  had  rushed  into  the  boat,  had  reached  the 
Fcene  of  the  catastrophe,  every  living  creature  had  disap- 
peared. There  was  nothing  left  but  some  pieces  of  the 
whale-boat  on  the  surface  of  the  waters,  red  with  blood. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CAPTAIN"      SAND. 

The  first  impression  felt  by  the  passengers  of  the  "  Pil- 
grim "  in  presence  of  this  terrible  catastrophe,  was  a  com- 
bination of  pity  and  horror.  They  only  thought  of  this 
frightful  death  of  Captain  Hull  and  the  five  sailors.  This 
fearful  scene  had  just  taken  place  almost  under  their  eyes, 
while  they  could  do  nothing  to  save  the  poor  men.  They  had 
not  even  been  able  to  arrive  in  time  to  pick  up  the  whale- 
boat's  crew,  their  unfortunate  companions,  wounded,  but 
still  living,  and  to  opT)osc  the  '"  I'dgrim's'' hull  to  the  ju- 
barte's  formidable  l)lows.  Captain  Hull  and  his  men  had  for- 
ever disappeared. 

^V'heu  the  schooner  arrived  at  the  fatal  place,  Mrs.  Weldon 
fell  on  her  knees,  her  hands  raised  toward  Heaven. 

"Let  us  ))rayl"  said  the  ])i<)us  woman. 

She  was  joined  by  her  little  Jack,  who  threw  himself  on 
his  knees,  weeping,  near  his  mother.  'I'he  ]ioor  child  under- 
stood it  all.  Dick  Sand,  Nan,  Tom,  and  the  other  blacks  re- 
mained standing,  their  heads  bowed.    All  repeated  the  prayer 


G8  A   CAPTAIN   A"*  FIITEEN. 

that  Mrs.  Wc'ldou  addrossed  to  God,  rccommciiding  to  His 
iuliiiite  guoduoss  Uiosc  who  had  just  appeared  before  Him. 

Then  Mrs.  Weldon,  turniiii;^  to  lier  companions,  "And 
now,  my  friends,"  said  she,  "  let  us  ask  Heaven  for  strength 
and  courage  for  ourselves." 

Yes!  Th.ey  could  not  too  earnestly  ini])lore  the  aid  of  Him 
who  can  do  all  things,  for  their  situation  was  one  of  the 
gravest! 

This  shi]i  wliich  carried  them  had  no  longer  a  captain  to 
command  lier,  no  longer  a  crew  to  work  her.  She  was  in  the 
middle  of  that  immense  Pacific  Ocean,  hundreds  of  miles 
from  any  land,  at  the  mercy  of  tlie  Avinds  and  waves. 

AVhat  fatality  then  had 'brought  that  whale  in  the  "Pil- 
grim's "  course?  What  still  greater  fatality  had  urged  the  un- 
fortunate Cajitain  Hull,  generally  so  wise,  to  risk  everything 
in  order  to  complete  his  cargo?  And  what  a  catastrophe  to 
count  among  the  rarest  of  the  annals  of  whale-fishing  was 
this  one,  which  did  not  allow  of  the  saving  of  one  of  the 
whale-boat's  sailors! 

Yes,  it  was  a  terrible  fatality!  In  fact,  there  was  no  longer 
a  seaman  on  board  the  "Pilgrim."  Yes,  one— Dick  Sand— 
and  he  was  only  a  beginner,  a  young  man  of  fifteen.  Cap- 
tain, boatswain,  sailors,  it  may  be  said  that  the  whole  crew 
was  now  concentrated  in  him. 

On  board  there  was  one  lady  passenger,  a  mother  and  her 
son,  whose  ])resence  would  render  the  situation  much  more 
difficult.  Then  there  were  also  some  blacks,  honest  men, 
courageous  and  zealous  without  a  doubt,  ready  to  obey  who- 
ever should  undertake  to  command  them,  but  ignorant  of  the 
sim])lest  notions  of  the  sailor's  craft. 

Dick  Sand  stood  motionless,  his  arms  crossed,  looking  at 
the  place  where  Captain  Hull  had  just  been  swallowed  up — 
Captain  Hull,  his  protector,  for  whom  he  felt  a  filial  affec- 
tion. Then  his  eyes  searched  the  horizon,  seeking  to  dis- 
cover some  ship,  from  which  he  would  demand  aid  and  as- 
sistance, to  which  he  might  be  able  at  least  to  confide  Mrs. 
Weldon.  He  would  not  abandon  the  "  Pilgrim,"  no,  indeed, 
without  having  tried  his  best  to  bring  her  into  port.  But 
Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  little  boy  would  be  in  safety.  He 
Avould  have  had  nothing  more  to  fear  for  those  two  "beings, 
to  whom  he  was  devoted  body  and  soul. 

The  ocean  was  deserted.  Since  the  disappearance  of  the 
jubarte,  not  a  speck  came  to  alter  tlie  surface.     All  was  sky 


A   CAPTAI??^   AT   riFTEEN".  69 

and  water  around  the  ''Pilgrim."  The  young  novice  knew 
only  too  well  that  he  was  beyond  the  routes  followed  by  the 
ships  of  commerce,  and  that  the  other  whalers  were  cruising 
still  farther  away  at  the  fishing-grounds. 

However,  the  "question  was,  to  look  the  situation  in  the 
.face,  to  see  things  as  they  Avere.  That  is  Avhat  Dick  Sand 
did,  asking  God,  from  the'depths  of  his  heart,  for  aid  and 
succor.     AVhat  resolution  was  he  going  to  take? 

At  that  moment  Xegoro  appeared  on  the  deck,  which  he 
had  left  after  the  catastrophe.  What  had  been  felt  in  the 
presence  of  this  irreparable  misfortune  by  a  being  so  enig- 
matical, no  one  could  tell.  He  had  contemplated  the  disaster 
•without  making  a  gesture,  without  departing  from  his  speech- 
lessness. His  e^-e  had  evidently  seized  all  the  details  of  it. 
But  if  at  such  a  moment  one  could  think  of  observing  him, 
he  would  be  astonished  at  least,  because  not  a  muscle  of  his 
impassable  face  had  moved.  At  any  rate,  and  as  if  he  had 
not  heard  it,  he  had  not  responded  to  the  pious  appeal  of 
Mrs.  "Weldon,  praying  for  the  engulfed  crew.  Xegoro  walked 
aft,  there  even  where  Dick  Sand  was  standing  motionless. 
He  stopped  three  steps  from  the  novice. 

"You  wish  to  speak  to  me?"  asked  Dick  Sand. 

"I  wish  to  speak  to  Captain  Hull,"  replied  Negoro,  coolly, 
"or,  in  his  absence,  to  boatswain  Howik." 

"  You  know  well  that  both  have  perished!"  cried  the 
novice. 

'"  Then  who  commands  on  board  now?"  asked  Negoro,  very 
insolently. 

"I,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  without  hesitation. 

''You I"  said  Negoro,  shrugging  his  shoulders.  "A  cap- 
tain of  fifteen  years?" 

"A  captain  of  fifteen  years!"  replied  the  novice,  advancing 
toward  the  cook. 

The  latter  drew  back. 

"Do  not  forget  it,"  then  said  Mrs.  Weldon.  "There  is 
but  one  cajjtain  here — Captain  Sand,  and  it  is  well  for  all  to 
remember  that  he  will  know  how  to  make  himself  obeyed," 

Nogoro  bowed,  mnmuring  in  an  ironical  tone  a  few  words 
tliat  they  could  not  understand,  and  he  returned  to  his  post. 

We  see,  Dick's  resolution  was  iakcn. 

Meanwhile  the  schooner,  under  tlu(  action  of  the  breeze, 
which  commenced  to  freshen,  had  already  ])assed  beyond  the 
vast  slioal  of  crustaceans. 


70  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

Dick  Sand  examined  the  condition  of  the  sails;  then  his 
eves  wore  cast  on  tlie  deck,  lie  had  then  this  sentiment, 
that,  if  a  fri«,ditfnl  responsibility  fell  npon  him  in  the  future, 
it  was  for  him  to  have  the  strength  to  accept  it.  He  dared  to 
look  at  the  survivors  of  the  "  I'ilirrim,"  whose  eyes  were  now 
fixed  on  him.  And,  reading  in  their  faces  that  he  could  count 
on  them,  he  said  to  them  in  two  words,  that  they  could  in 
their  turn  count  on  him. 

Dick  Sand  had,  in  all  sincerity,  examined  his  conscience. 

If  he  was  capable  of  taking  in  or  setting  the  sails  of  the 
schooner,  according  to  circumstances,  by  employing  the  arms 
of  Tom  and  his  companions,  he  evidentlv  did  not  yet 
possess  all  the  knowledge  necessary  to  determine  his  position 
by  calculation. 

In  four  or  five  years  more,  Dick  Sand  would  know  thor- 
oughly that  beautiful  and  difficult  sailor's  craft.  He  would 
know  how  to  use  the  sextant— that  instrument  which  Captain 
Hull's  hand  had  held  every  day,  and  Avhich  gave  him  the 
height  of  the  stars,  lie  would  read  on  the  chronometer  the 
hour  of  the  meridian  of  Greenwich,  and  from  it  would  be  able 
to  deduce  the  longitude  by  the  hour  angle.  The  sun  would 
be  made  his  counsellor  each  day.  The  moon— the  planets 
would  say  to  him,  "  There,  on  that  point  of  the  ocean,  is  thy 
ship!"  That  firmament,  on  which  the  stars  move  like  the 
hands  of  a  perfect  clock,  which  nothing  shakes  nor  can  de- 
range, and  whose  accuracy  is  absolute — that  firmament  would 
tell  him  the  hours  and  the  distances.  By  astronomical  obser- 
vations he  would  know,  as  his  captain  had  known  every  day, 
nearly  to  a  mile,  the  place  occupied  by  the  "  Pilgrim,"  and 
the  course  followed  as  well  as  tlie  course  to  follow. 

And  now,  hj  reckoning,  that  is  by  the  progress  measured 
on  the  log,  pomted  out  by  the  compass,  and  corrected  by  the 
drift,  he  must  alone  ask  his  way. 

However,  he  did  not  falter. 

;^lrs.  Weldon  unders((jod  all  that  was  passing  in  the  young 
novice's  resolute  heart. 

"Thank  you,  Dick,"  she  said  to  him,  in  a  voice  which  did 
not  tremble.  "  Captain  Hull  is  no  more.  All  liis  crew  have 
perished  with  him.  The  fate  of  the  ship  is  in  your  hands! 
Dick,  you  Avill  save  the  ship  and  those  on  board!'* 

**  Yes,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "yes!  I  shall 
attempt  it,  with  the  aid  of  God!" 


A   CAPTAIN"   AT   FIFTEKX.  71 

"  Tom  and  his  companions  are  honest  men,  on  whom  you 
can  depend  entirely." 

*•  I  know  it,  and  I  shall  make  sailors  of  them,  and  we  shall 
work  together.  With  fine  weather,  that  will  be  easy.  "With 
had  weather — well,  with  bad  Aveather,  we  shall  strive,  and  we 
shall  save  you  vet,  Mrs.  Weldon— vou  and  your  little  Jack, 
both!     Yes,  I  i'eel  that  I  shall  do  it." 

And  he  repeated: 

"With  the  aid  of  God!" 

"Xow,  Dick,  can  you  tell  where  the  '  Pilgrim'  is?"  asked 
Mrs,  W'eldon. 

''  Easily,"  replied  the  novice.  "  I  have  only  to  consult  the 
chart  on  board,  on  which  her  position  was  marked  yesterday 
bv  Captain  Hull." 

"  "And  will  you  be  able  to  put  the  ship  in   the  right  direc- 
tion?" 

"Yes,  I  shall  be  able  to  put  her  prow  to  the  east, nearly  at 
the  point  of  the  American  coast  that  we  must  reach." 

"  But,  "Dick,"  returned   Mrs.   Weldon,   "you  Avell   under- 


il]iaraiso.     The  nearest  port 
ican  coast  is  now  her  ])ort  of  destination." 

"Certainly,  Mrs.  "Wcldon."  replied  the  novice.  "So.  fear 
nothing!  We  cannot  fail  to  reach  that  American  coast,  Avhich 
stretches  so  far  to  the  south." 

"Where  is  it  situated?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"There,  in  that  direction,"  replied  Dick  8and,  pointingto 
the  east,  which  he  knew  by  means  of  the  comi)ass. 

"  Well,  Dick,  may  we  reach  Val})araiso,  or  any  other  part 
of  the  coast.     What  matter?     What  we  want  is  to  land." 

"  And  we  shall  do  it,  Mrs.  Weldon,  and  I  shall  land  you 
on  a  good  place,"  replied  the  young  man,  in  a  firm  voice. 
"  besides,  in  standing  in  for  the  land,  I  do  not  renounce  the 
hope  of  encountering  some  of  those  vessels  which  do  the 
coasting  trade  on  that  shore.  Ah!  Mrs.  Weldon,  the  wind 
begins  to  blow  steadily  from  the  northwest!  God  grant  that 
it  mav  keep  on;  we  sliall  make  progress,  and  good  progress. 
AVe  shall  drive  in  tlie  oflinir.  with  all  our  sails  set,  from  the 
brigantinc  to  the  fiying-jih!' 

Dick  Sand  liad  spokr-n  with  the  confidence  of  the  seaman, 
who  feel.s  that  he  stands  on  a  good  shi]>,  ashij)  of  whose  every 
uiovement  he  is  master.     He  was  going  to  take  the  lichn  and 


73  A    CAPTAIN"   AT   FIFTEEN. 

call  his  companions  to  set  the  sails  properly,  when  Mrs.  Wcl- 
don  reminded  him  that  he  ought  lirst  to  know  the  "  Pil- 
grim's "  position. 

It  was,  indeed,  the  first  thing  to  do.  Dick  Sand  went  into 
the  cajitain's  cabin  for  the  chart  on  which  the  position  of  the 
day  before  was  indicated.  He  could  then  show  Mrs.  Weldon 
that  the  schooner  was  m  latitude  43°  35',  and  in  longitude 
104°  13',  for,  in  tlie  last  twenty-four  hours,  she  had  not,  so  to 
say,  made  any  progress. 

^hs.  Weldon  leaned  over  this  chart.  She  looked  at  the 
brown  color,  which  represented  the  land,  on  the  right  of  the 
ocean.  It  was  the  coast  of  South  America,  an  immense  bar- 
rier thrown  between  the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic,  from  Cape 
Horn  to  the  shores  of  Columbia.  To  consider  it  in  that  way, 
that  chart,  which  was  then  spread  out  under  her  eyes,  on 
which  was  drawn  a  whole  ocean,  gave  the  imjiression  that  it 
would  be  easy  to  restore  the  "  Pilgrim's  "  passengers  to  their 
country.  It  is  an  illusion  which  is  invariably  produced  on 
one  who  is  not  familiar  with  the  scale  on  which  marine  charts 
are  drawn.  And,  in  fact,  it  seemed  to  ]\Irs.  Weldon  that  the 
land  ought  to  be  in  siglit,  as  it  was  on  that  piece  of  pa})er! 

And,  meanwhile,  on  that  white  page,  the  "  Pilgrim,"  drawn 
on  an  exact  scale,  would  be  smaller  than  the  most  microscopic 
of  infusoria!  That  mathematical  point,  without  appreciable 
dimensions,  would  appear  lost,  as  it  was  in  reality,  in  the  im- 
mensity of  the  Pacific! 

Dick  Sand  himself  had  not  experienced  the  same  impres- 
sion as  Mrs.  Weldon.  He  knew  how  far  off  the  land  was, 
and  that  many  hundreds  of  miles  would  not  suffice  to  measure 
the  distance  from  it.  But  he  had  taken  his  part;  he  had  be- 
come a  man  xuider  the  responsibility  which  luid  fallen  upon 
him. 

The  moment  to  act  had  come.  He  must  profit  by  this 
northwest  breeze  which  was  blowing  up.  Contrary  winds  had 
given  ])lace  to  favorable  winds,  and  some  clouds,  scattered  in 
the  zenith  under  the  cirrous  form,  indicated  that  they  Avould 
blow  steadily  for  at  least  a  certain  time. 

Dick  Sand  called  Tom  and  his  companions. 

"  My  friends,"  he  said  to  them,  ''our  ship  has  no  longer 
any  crew  but  you.  I  cannot  work  Avithout  your  aid.  You 
are  not  sailors,  but  you  have  good  arms.  Place  them,  then, 
at  the  'Pilgrim's'  service,  and   we  can  steer  her.      Every 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN".  73 

one's  salvation  depends  on  the  good  work  of  ever}'  one  on 
board." 

"  Mr.  Dick,"  replied  Tom,  "my  companions  and  I,  we  are 
your  sailors.  Our  good  will  shall  not  be  wanting.  All  that 
men  can  do,  commanded  by  you,  we  shall  do  it." 

"  Well  spoken,  old  Tom,"  said  ]\Irs.  Weldon. 

"Yes,  well  spoken,"  continued  Dick  Sand;  '"'but  we  must 
be  prudent,  and  I  shall  not  carry  too  much  canvas,  so  as  not 
to  run  any  risk.  Circumstances  require  a  little  less  speed, 
but  more  security.  I  will  show  you,  my  friends,  what  each 
will  have  to  do  in  the  work.  As  to  me,  I  shall  remain  at  the 
helm,  as  long  as  fatigue  does  not  oblige  me  to  leave  it.  From 
time  to  time  a  few  hours  sleep  will  be  sufficient  to  restore  me. 
But,  during  those  few  hours,  it  will  be  very  necessary  for  one 
of  you  to  take  my  place.  Tom,  I  shall  show  yon  how  we 
steer  by  means  of  the  mariner's  compass.  It  is  not  difficult, 
and,  with  a  little  attention,  you  will  soon  learn  to  keep  the 
ship's  head  in  the  right  direction." 

"  "Whenever  you  like,  Mr.  Dick,"  replied  the  old  black. 

"Well,"  replied  the  novice,  "stay  near  me  at  the  helm  till 
the  end  of  the  day,  and  if  fatigue  overcomes  me,  you  will  then 
be  able  to  replace  me  for  a  few  hours." 

"  And  I,"  said  little  Jack,  "will  I  not  be  able  to  helii  my 
friend,  Dick,  a  little?" 

"  Yes,  dear  child,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  clasping  Jack  in 
her  arms,  "you  shall  learn  to  steer,  and  I  am  sure  that  while 
you  are  at  the  helm  we  shall  have  good  winds." 

"  Very  sure — very  sure.  Mother,  I  promise  it  to  you," 
replied  the  little  boy,  clapping  his  hands. 

"Yes,"  said  the  young  novice,  smiling,  "good  cabin-boys 
know  how  to  maintain  good  winds.  That  is  well  knoAvn  by 
old  sailors."  Then,  addressing  Tom  and  the  other  blacks: 
"My  friends,"  he  said  to  them,  "we  are  going  to  put  the 
*  Pilgrim '  under  full  sail.  You  will  only  have  to  do  what  I 
shall  tell  you." 

"  At  your  orders,"  rejjlied  Tom,  "at  your  orders.  Captain 
Sand." 


74  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN". 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   FOUR    DAYS   WHICH   FOLLOW. 

Dick  Sand  was  then  captain  of  the  "  Pilgrim,"  and  with- 
out losing  an  instant,  he  took  the  necessary  measures  for 
putting  the  ship  under  full  sail. 

It  Avas  well  understood  that  the  passengers  could  liave  only 
one  hope— that  of  reaching  some  part  of  the  American  coast, 
if  not  Valparaiso.  What  Dick  Sand  counted  on  doing  was 
to  ascertain  the  direction  and  speed  of  the  "  Pilgrim,"  so  as 
to  get  an  average.  For  that,  it  Avas  sufficient  to  make  each 
day  on  the  chart  the  way  made,  as  it  has  been  said,  by  the  log 
and  the  compass.  There  Avas  then  on  board  one  of  those 
"patent  logs,"  Avith  an  index  and  helix,  which  giA-e  the  speed 
A'cry  exactly  for  a  fixed  time.  This  useful  instrument,  very 
easily  handled,  could  render  the  most  useful  services,  and  the 
blacks  were  perfectly  adapted  to  Avork  it. 

A  single  cause  of  error  Avonld  interfere — the  currents.  To 
combat  it,  reckoning  Avould  be  insufficient;  astronomical  ob- 
servations alone  Avould  enable  one  to  render  an  exact  calcula- 
tion from  it.  NoAV,  those  observations  the  young  novice  Avas 
still  unable  to  make. 

For  an  instant  Dick  Sand  had  thought  of  bringing  the 
"Pilgrim"  back  to  IS'cav  Zealand.  The  passage  Avould  be 
shorter,  and  he  Avould  certainly  have  done  it  if  the  Avind, 
which,  till  then,  had  been  contrary,  had  not  become  favora- 
ble.    Better  worth  Avhile  then  to  sleer  for  America. 

In  fact,  the  Avind  had  changed  almost  to  the  contrary  direc- 
tion, and  now  it  blcAv  from  the  northwest  with  a  tendency  to 
freshen.  It  A\as  then  necessary  to  profit  by  it  and  make  all 
the  hcadAvay  possible. 

So  Dick  Sand  prepared  to  put  the  ''Pilgrim  "  under  full 
sail. 

In  a  schooner  brig-rigged,  the  foremast  carries  four  srpiare 
sails;  the  fore-sail,  on  the  loAver  mast;  above,  the  top-sail,  on 
the  topmast;  then,  on  the  top-gallant  mast,  a  top-sail  and  a 
royal. 

The  mainmast,  on  the  contrary,  has  fewer  sails.  It  only 
carries  a  brigantine  beloAV,  and  a  fore-staffsail  above.  Be- 
tween these  tAvo  masts,  on  the  stays  Avhich  support  them  at 
the  proAv,  a  triple  roAV  of  triangular  sails  may  be  set. 


■MM. 

BARnis  AM)  •snaoiM.—Ste  p(igii\7i. 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEE]S".  75 

Finally,  at  the  prow,  on  the  bowsprit,  and  its  extreme  end, 
were  hauled  the  three  jibs. 

The  jibs,  the  brigantine,  the  fore-stafF,  and  the  stay-sails 
are  easily  managed.  They  can  be  hoisted  from  the  deck 
without  the  necessity  of  climbing  the  masts,  because  they  are 
not  fastened  on  the  yards  by  means  of  rope-bands,  Avliich 
must  be  previously  loosened. 

On  the  contrary,  the  working  of  the  foremast  sails  de- 
mands much  greater  proficiency  in  seamanship.  In  fact, 
when  it  is  necessary  to  set  them,'the  sailors  must  chmb  by 
the  rigging — it  may  be  in  the  fore-top,  it  may  be  on  the  spars 
of  the  top-gallant  inast,  it  may  be  to  the  top  of  the  said  mast 
— and  that,  as  well  in  letting  them  fly  as  in  drawing  them  in 
to  diminish  their  surface  in  reefing  them.  Thence  the  neces- 
sity of  running  out  on  foot-ropes — movable  ropes  stretched 
below  the  yards — of  working  with  one  hand  while  holding  on 
by  the  other — perilous  work  for  anyone  who  is  not  used  to  it. 
The  oscillation  from  the  rolling  "and  pitching  of  the  ship, 
very  much  increased  by  the  length  of  the  lever,  the  flapping 
of  the  sails  under  a  stiff  breeze,  have  often  sent  a  man  over- 
board. It  was  then  a  truly  dangerous  operation  for  Tom  and 
his  companions. 

Very  fortunately,  tlie  Avind  Avas  moderate.  The  sea  had 
not  yet  had  time  to  become  rough.  The  rolling  and  pitching 
kept  within  bounds. 

When  Dick  Sand,  at  Captain  Hull's  signal,  had  steered 
toward  the  scene  of  the  catastrophe,  the  "  Pilgrim  "  only  car- 
ried her  jibs,  her  brigantine,  her  fore-sail,  and  her  top-sail. 
To  get  the  ship  under  way  as  quickly  as  possible,  the  novice 
had  only  to  make  use  of,  that  is,  to  counter-brace  the  fore- 
sail.    The  blacks  had  easily  helped  him  in  that  manoeuvre. 

The  question  now  was  to  get  under  full  sail,  and,  to  com- 
plete the  sails,  to  hoist  the  top-sails,  the  royal,  the  fore-staff, 
and  the  stay-sails. 

•■'  My  friends,"  said  the  novice  to  the  five  blacks,  "  do  as  I 
tell  you,  and  all  will  go  riirht."' 

J)ick  Sand  Avas  standing  at  the  Avheel  of  the  helm. 

"  Gol"  cried  he.     "  Tom,  lot  go  that  rope  quickly!" 

''Ix'tgo?"  said  'J'oni,  Avho  <]i<l  not  understand  that  expres- 
sion. 

"Yes,  loosen  it!  IS'ow  you,  Uat — the  same  thing!  (Jood! 
Il.iivo— h;iiil  taut.     Lot  us  sec,  pull  it  in!" 

••  l.iko  that?"  said  Bat. 


7G  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEK. 

"  Yes,  like  that.  Very  good.  Come,  Hercules — strong! 
A  good  pull  there!" 

To  say  "strong"  to  Ilerculcs  was,  perhaps,  imprudent, 
'ri)e  giant  of  course  gave  a  ]nill  that  l)rouglit  down  the  rope: 

'*  Oil!  not  so  strong,  my  honest  fellow!"  cried  Dick  Sand, 
smiling.     "You  are  going  to  bring  down  the  masts!" 

'*I  liave  hardly  pulled,"  replied  Hercules. 

"Well,  only  make  believe!  You  will  see  that  that  will  be 
enough!  Well,  slacken — cast  off!  Make  fast — make  fast — 
like  that!     Good!     All  together!     Ileavc — pull  on  the  braces." 

And  the  whole  breadth  of  the  foremast,  whose  larboard 
braces  had  been  loosened,  turned  slowly.  The  wind  then 
swelling  the  sails  imparted  a  certain  speed  to  the  ship. 

Dick  Sand  then  had  the  jib  sheet-ropes  loosened.  Then 
he  called  the  blacks  aft: 

"  Ik'hold  what  is  done,  my  friends,  and  well  done.  Now 
let  us  attend  to  the  mainmast.  But  break  nothing,  Her- 
cules." 

"  I  shall  try,"  replied  the  colossus,  without  being  willing  to 
promise  more. 

This  second  operation  was  quite  easy.  The  main-boom 
sheet-rope  having  been  let  go  gently,  the  brigantine  took  the 
Avind  more  regularly,  and  added  its  powerful  action  to  that  of 
the  forward  sails. 

The  fore-staff  was  then  set  above  the  brigantine,  and,  as  it 
is  simply  brailed  up,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  bear  on  the 
rope,  to  haul  aboard,  then  to  secure  it.  But  Hercules  pulled 
so  hard,  along  with  his  friend  Aoteon,  without  counting  little 
Jack,  who  had  joined  them,  that  the  rope  broke  off. 

All  three  fell  backwards — happily,  without  hurting  them- 
selves.    Jack  was  enchanted. 

"That's  nothing!  that's  nothing!"  cried  the  novice. 
"  Fasten  the  two  ends  together  for  this  time  and  hoist  softly!" 

That  was  done  under  Dick  Sand's  eyes,  while  he  had  not 
yet  left  the  helm.  The  "  Pilgrim"  was  already  sailing  rap- 
idlv,  headed  to  the  east,  and  there  Avas  nothing  more  to  be 
d(»nc  but  keep  it  in  that  direction.  Xorhing  easier,  because 
the  wind  was  favorable,  and  lui'ches  were  not  to  be  feared. 

"Good,  my  friends!"  said  the  novice.  "You  will  be  good 
sailors  before  the  end  of  the  voyage!" 

"  We  shall  do  our  best.  Captain  Sand,"  replied  Tom. 

Mrs.  Weldon  also  complimented  those  honest  men. 


A   CAPTAIJT   AT   FIFTEEiT.  77 

Little  Jack  himself  received  his  share  of  praise,  for  he  had 
worked  bravely. 

"Indeed,  I  believe,  Mr.  Jack,"  said  Hercules,  smiling, 
"that  it  was  you  who  broke  the  rope.  What  a  good  little 
fist  you  have.  Without  vou  we  should  have  done  nothing 
right." 

__And  little  Jack,  very  proud  of  himself,  shook  his  friend 
Hercules's  hand  vigorously. 

The  Getting  of  the  ''  Pilgrim's"  sails  was  not  yet  complete. 
She  still  lacked  those  top  sails  whose  action  is  not  to  be  de- 
spised under  this  full-sail  movement.  Top-sail,  royal,  stay- 
sails, would  add  sensibly  to  the  schooner's  speed,  and  Dick 
Sand  resolved  to  set  them. 

This  operation  would  be  more  difficult  than  the  others,  not 
for  the  stay-sails,  which  could  be  hoisted,  hauled  aboard  and 
fastened  from  below,  but  for  the  cross-jacks  of  the  foremast. 
It  was  necessary  to  climb  to  the  spars  to  let  them  out,  and 
Dick  Sand,  not  wishing  to  expose  any  one  of  his  improvised 
crew,  undertook  to  do  it  himself. 

He  then  called  Tom,  and  put  him  at  the  Avheel,  showing 
him  how  he  should  keep  the  ship.  Then  Hercules,  Bat,  Ac- 
teon  and  Austin  being  placed,  some  at  the  royal  halyards, 
others  at  those  of  the  top-sail,  he  proceeded  up  the  mast.  To 
climb  the  rattUngs  of  the  fore-shrouds,  then  the  rattlings  of 
the  topmast-shrouds,  to  gain  the  spars,  that  was  only  play  for 
the  young  novice.  In  a  minute  he  was  on  the  foot-rope  of 
the  top-sail  yard,  and  he  let  go  the  rope-bands  which  kept 
the  sail  bound. 

Then  he  stood  on  the  spars  again,  and  climbed  on  the  royal 
yard,  where  he  let  out  the  sail  raj)i(lly. 

Dick  Sand  had  finished  his  task,  and,  seizing  one  of  the 
starboard  back-stays,  he  slid  to  the  deck. 

I'here,  under  his  directions,  the  two  sails  were  vigorously 
hauled  and  fastened,  then  the  two  yards  hoisted  to  the  block. 
The  stay-sails  being  set  next  between  the  mainmast  and  tlie 
foremast,  the  work  was  finished.  Hercules  had  broken  noth- 
ing this  time. 

Tlie  "  Pilgrim  "  then  Ciirried  all  (he  sails  that  composed 
her  rigging.  Doubtless  Dick  Sand  could  still  add  Ihc  fore- 
mast studding-sails  to  larboard,  but  it  was  difficult  work 
under  the  ))r(;sent  circumstances,  and  should  it  be  necessary 
to  take  them  in.  in  case  of  a  squall,  it  could  not  be  done  fast 
enough.     So  the  novice  stopped  there. 


•^8  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

Tom  was  relieved  from  his  post  at  the  wliccl,  which  Dick 
Saml  took  charp^e  of  afjain. 

Tlie  breeze  frcsliened.  Tlie  ''Pilgrim,"  making  a  slight 
turn  to  starboard,  glided  ra])idly  over  the  surface  of  the  sea, 
leaving  l)eliind  her  a  very  Hat  track,  which  bore  witness  to  the 
])urity  of  her  water-line. 

"  \\'e  are  Avell  under  way,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  then  said  Dick 
Sand,  "and,  now,  may  Cod  preserve  this  favorable  wind!" 

Mrs.  AVeldon  pressed  the  yonng  man's  hand.  Then, 
fatigued  with  all  the  emotions  of  that  last  hour,  she  sought 
her  cabin,  and  fell  into  a  sort  of  i)aiuful  drowsiness,  which 
was  not  sleej). 

The  new  crew  remained  on  tlie  schooner's  deck,  Avatching 
on  the  forecastle,  and  ready  to  obey  Dick  Sand's  orders — that 
is  to  say,  to  change  the  set  of  the  sails  according  to  the  varia- 
tions of  the  wind;  but  so  long  as  the  breeze  kept  both  that 
force  and  that  direction,  there  would  be  positively  nothing 
to  do. 

During  all  this  time  what  had  become  of  Cousin  15enedict? 

Cousin  Benedict  was  occupied  in  studying  with  a  magnify- 
ing glass  an  articulate  which  he  had  at  last  found  on  board — 
a  simple  orthoptcr,  whose  head  disappeared  under  the  pro- 
thorax;  an  insect  Avith  fiat  elytrums,  with  round  abdomen, 
with  rather  long  wings,  which  belonged  to  the  family  of  the 
roaches,  and  to  the  species  of  American  cockroaches. 

It  Avas  exactly  while  ferreting  in  Kegoro's  kitchen,  that  he 
had  made  that  precious  discovery,  and  at  the  moment  when 
the  cook  was  going  to  crush  the  said  insect  pitilessly.  Thcuco 
anger,  which,  indeed,  Kegoro  took  no  notice  of. 

But  this  Cousin  lienedict,  did  he  know  what  change  had 
taken  place  on  board  since  the  moment  when  Cajitain  Hull 
and  his  companions  had  commenced  that  fatal  Avhalc-iishing? 
Yes,  certainly.  He  Avas  even  on  the  deck  when  the  "  Pil- 
grim "  arrived  in  sight  of  the  remains  of  the  Avhale-boat. 
The  schooner's  crew  had  then  perished  before  his  eyes. 

To  pretend  that  this  catastrophe  had  not  affected  him, 
Avould  be  to  accuse  his  heart.  That  ])ity  for  others  that  all 
])eople  feel,  he  had  certainly  experienced  it.  He  Avas  ecpuUly 
moved  by  his  cousin's  situation,  lie  had  come  to  press  Mrs. 
AVeldon's  hand,  as  if  to  say  to  her:  "  Do  not  be  afraid.  I 
am  here.      I  am  left  to  you." 

Then  Cousin  lienedict  had  turned  toAvard  his  cabin,  doubt- 
less  so  us  to  reflect  on  the  consequences  of  this  disastrous 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN".  79 

event,  and  on  the  energetic  measures  that  he  must  take. 
But  on  his  way  he  had  met  the  cockroach  in  question,  and 
nis  desire  was — liekl,  liowever,  against  certain  entomologists 
— to  prove  the  cockroaches  of  the  phoraspe  species,  remark- 
able for  tlieir  colors,  have  very  different  habits  from  cock- 
roaches properly  so  called;  he  had  given  himself  up  to  the 
study,  forgetting  both  that  there  had  been  a  Captain  Hull  in 
command  of  the  "Pilgrim/""  and  that  that  unfortunate  bad 
just  perished  with  his  crew.  The  cockroach  absorbed  him 
entirely.  He  did  not  admire  it  less,  and  he  made  as  much 
time  over  it  as  if  that  horrible  insect  had  been  a  golden 
beetle. 

The  life  on  board  had  then  returned  to  its  usual  course, 
though  every  one  would  remain  for  a  long  time  yet  under  the 
effects  of  such  a  keen  and  unforeseen  catastrophe. 

During  this  day  Dick  Sand  wys  everywhere,  so  that  every- 
thing should  be  in  its  place,  and  that  be  could  be  prei)ared 
for  the  smallest  contingency.  Tbe  blacks  obeyed  him  with 
zeal.  The  most  perfect  order  reigned  on  board  the  '*  Pil- 
grim."    It  might  then  be  hoped  tbat  all  would  go  well. 

On  his  side,  Kegoro  made  no  other  attempt  to  resist  Dick 
Sand's  authority.  He  appeared  to  have  tacitly  recognized 
him.  Occupied  as  usual  in  his  narrow  kitchen,  he  was  not 
seen  more  tban  before.  Besides,  at  the  least  infraction — at 
the  first  symptom  of  insubordination,  Dick  Sand  was  deter- 
mined to  send  bim  to  the  liold  for  the  rest  of  the  })assage. 
At  a  sign  from  him,  Hercules  Avould  take  the  head  cook  by 
the  skin  of  the  neck;  that  would  not  have  taken  long.  In 
tbat  case.  Nan,  Avho  knew  liow  to  cook,  would  rejjlace  the 
cook  in  his  functions.  Negoro  then  could  say  to  himself  that 
he  was  indispensable,  and,  as  he  was  closely  watched,  he 
seemed  unwilling  to  give  any  cause  of  complaint. 

The  wind,  tliough  growing  stronger  till  evening,  did  not 
necessitate  any  change  in  tbe  "  Pilgrim's"  sails.  Her  solid 
masting,  ber  iron  rigging,  wliicli  Avas  in  good  condition, 
would  enable  ber  to  bear  in  this  condition  even  a  stronger 
breeze. 

During  tbe  niglit  it  is  often  the  custom  to  lessen  the  sails, 
and  particularly  to  take  in  the  liigh  sails,  fore-stalf.  t(i])-sail, 
royal,  etc.  Tbat  is  ])rudent,  in  case  some  s(|uall  of  wind 
should  come  u))  suddenly.  But  Dick  Sand  lu'lieved  be  could 
dis])ense  with  this  precaution.  Tbe  state  of  the  atrnospberc 
indicated  nothing  of  the  kind,  and  besides,  the  young  novice 


80  A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

dotormincd  to  pass  the  iirst  niixht  on  tlic  dock,  intending:  to 
have  an  eye  to  everything.  I'lien  the  progress  was  more 
rai)id,  and  he  longed  to  be  in  less  desolate  parts. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  log  and  the  compass  -were  the  only 
instruments  which  Dick  .Sand  could  use,  so  as  to  estinuite  a])- 
l^roximately  the  way  made  by  the  ''  Pilgrim." 

During  this  day  the  novice  threw  the  log  every  half-hour, 
and  he  noted  the  indications  furnislied  by  tlie  instrument. 

As  to  the  instrument  which  bears  the  name  of  compass, 
there  were  two  on  board.  One  was  placed  in  tlie  binnacle, 
under  the  eyes  of  the  man  at  the  helm.  Its  dial,  lighted  by 
day  by  the  diurnal  light,  by  night  by  two  side-lamps,  indi- 
cated at  every  moment  which  way  the  ship  headed — that  is, 
the  direction  she  followed.  The  other  compass  was  an  in- 
verted one,  fixed  to  the  bars  of  tlie  cabin  which  Captain  Hull 
formerly  occupied.  By  that  means,  without  leaving  his 
chamber,  he  could  always  know  if  the  route  given  was  exactly 
followed,  if  the  man  at  the  helm,  from  ignorance  or  neg- 
ligence, allowed  the  ship  to  make  too  great  lurches. 

Besides,  there  is  no  ship  employed  in  long  voyages  which 
does  not  possess  at  least  two  compasses,  as  she  has  two  chro- 
nometers. It  is  necessary  to  compare  these  instruments  with 
each  other,  and,  consequently,  control  their  indications. 

The  "  Pilgrim  "  was  then  sufficiently  provided  for  in  that 
respect,  and  Dick  Sand  charged  his  men  to  take  the  greatest 
care  of  the  two  compasses,  which  wore  so  necessary  to  him_. 

Now,  unfortunately,  during  the  night  of  the  12th  to  the 
13th  of  February,  while  the  novice  was  on  watch,  and  hold- 
ing the  wheel  of' the  helm,  a  sad  accident  took  place.  The 
inverted  compass,  which  was  fastened  by  a  copj)or  ferule  to 
the  woodwork  of  the  cabin,  broke  off  and  fell  on  the  floor.  It 
was  not  seen  till  the  next  day. 

How  had  that  ferule  come  to  break.  It  was  inexplicable 
enough.  It  was  possible,  however,  that  it;  was  oxydized,  and 
that  the  pitching  and  rolling  had  broken  it  from  the  wood- 
work. Xow,  indeed,  the  sea  had  been  rougher  during  the 
night.  However  it  was,  the  compass  was  broken  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  could  not  be  repaired. 

Dick  Sand  was  much  thwarted.  Henceforth  he  was  re- 
duced to  trust  solely  to  the  compass  in  the  binnacle.  Very 
evidently  no  one  was  responsible  for  the  breaking  of  the 
second  compass,  but  it  might  have  sad  consequences.     The 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  81 

novice  then  took  every  precaution  to  keep  the  other  compass 
beyond  tbe  reach  of  every  accident. 

Till  then,  with  that  exception,  all  went  well  on  board  the 
''Pilgrim." 

Mrs.  Weldon,  seeing  Dick  Sand's  calmness,  had  regained 
confidence.  It  was  not  that  she  had  ever  yielded  to  despair. 
Above  all,  she  counted  on  the  goodness  of  God.  Also,  as  a 
sincere  and  pious  Catholic,  she  comforted  herself  by  prayer. 

Dick  Sand  had  arranged  so  as  to  remain  at  the  helm  during 
the  night.  He  slei)t  five  or  six  hours  in  the  day,  and  that 
seemed  enough  for  him,  as  he  did  not  feel  too  much  fatigued. 
During  this  time  Tom  or  his  son  Bat  took  his  place  at  the 
wheel  of  the  helm,  and,  thanks  to  his  counsels,  they  were 
gradually  becoming  passable  steersmen. 

Often  Mrs.  "Weldon  and  the  novice  tidked  to  each  other. 
Dick  Sand  willingly  took  advice  from  this  intelligent  and 
courageous  woman.  Each  day  he  showed  her  on  the  ship's 
chart  the  course  run,  which  he  took  by  reckoning,  taking 
into  account  only  the  direction  and  the  speed  of  the  ship. 
"  See,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  he  often  repeated  to  her,  "with  these 
winds  blowing,  we  cannot  fail  to  reach  the  coast  of  South 
America.  I  sliould  not  like  to  affirm  it,  but  I  verily  believe 
that  when  our  vessel  shall  arrive  in  sight  of  land,  it  will  not 
be  far  from  Valparaiso." 

Mrs.  Weklou  could  not  d(nibt  the  direction  of  the  vessel 
was  right,  favored  above  all  by  those  winds  from  the  north- 
west. But  how  far  the  "  Pilgrim  "  still  seemed  to  be  from 
the  American  coast!  How  many  dangers  between  her  and  the 
firm  land,  only  counting  those  wiiicli  might  come  from  a 
change  in  tlie  state  of  the  sea  and  the  sky! 

Jack,  indifferent  like  children  of  his  age,  had  returned  to 
his  usual  games,  running  on  the  deck,  amusing  himself  with 
Dingo.  Tie  found,  of  course,  tliat  his  friend  Dick  was  less 
with  him  than  formerly;  but  his  mother  had  made  him  un- 
der.'^tand  tliat  tliey  must  leave  the  young  novice  entirely  to 
his  occupations,  l.ittle  Jack  had  given  up  to  these  reasons, 
and  no  longer  disturbed  "("a])tain  Sand." 

So  passed  life  (jii  board.  The  bhicks  did  their  work  inlelli- 
g(!ntly,  and  eacli  (hiy  Itecame  )iiore  skillful  in  the  sailor's  craft. 
'I'om  was  naturally  the  boatswain,  and  it  was  he,  indeed, 
whom  his  companions  would  have  chosen  for  that  ofVicc.  lie 
conimande<l  the  watch  wliile  tlie  novice  rested,  and  lie  li.nl 
witli   iiiiu   his  son   Jiat  and   Austin.     Acteon    and  Jlei-cules 


82  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

formed  the  other  wateli,  under  Dick  Sand's  direction.  By 
this  means,  while  one  steered,  tlie  others  watclied  at  the  prow. 

Even  thoufjli  these  ]>arts  were  deserted,  and  no  collision 
was  really  to  be  i'eared,  the  novice  exacted  a  ri<ijoronR  watch 
diirini;  the  night,  lie  never  sailed  without  having  liis  lights 
in  jHisition — a  green  light  on  the  starboard,  a  red  light  on 
the  larboard — and  in  that  lie  acted  wisely. 

All  the  time,  during  those  nicfhts  which  Dick  Sand  passed 
entirely  at  the  helm,  ho  occasionally  felt  an  irresistible  heavi- 
ness over  him.  His  hand  then  steered  by  pure  instinct.  It 
was  the  effect  of  a  fatigue  of  which  he  did  not  wish  to  take 
account. 

Now.  it  happened  that  during  the  night  of  the  13th  to  the 
14tli  of  February,  that  Dick  Sand  Avas  very  tired,  and  was 
obliged  to  take  a  few  hours  rest.  lie  was  replaced  at  the 
helm  by  old  Tom. 

The  sky  was  covered  with  thick  clouds,  which  had  gathered 
with  the  evening,  under  the  iniluence  of  the  cold  air.  It  Avas 
then  very  dark,  and  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish  the  high 
sails  lost  in  the  darkness.  Hercules  and  Acteon  were  on 
w.itch  on  the  forecastle. 

Ait,  the  light  from  the  binnacle  only  gave  a  faint  gleam, 
which  the  metallic  apparatus  of  the  wheel  reflected  softly. 
The  ship's  lanterns  throwing  their  lights  laterally,  left  the 
deck  of  the  vessel  in  profound  darkness. 

Toward  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  kind  of  hypnotic 
phenomenon  took  place,  of  which  old  Tom  w'as  not  even  con- 
scious. His  eyes,  which  were  fixed  too  long  on  a  luminous 
point  of  the  binnacle,  suddenly  lost  tlie  power  of  vision,  and  he 
fell  into  a  true  anasthetic  sleep. 

Not  only  was  he  incapable  of  seeing,  but  if  one  had  touched 
or  pinched  him  hard  he  would  probably  have  felt  nothing. 

So  he  did  not  see  a  shadow  which  glided  over  the  deck. 

It  was  Xegoro. 

Arrived  aft,  the  head  cook  placed  under  the  binnacle  a 
l)retty  heavy  object  which  he  held  in  his  hand. 

Then,  after  observing  for  an  instant  the  luminous  index  of 
the  compass,  he  retired  without  having  Ijcen  seen. 

If,  the  next  day,  Dick  Sand  had  jjereeived  that  object 
placed  by  !Negoro  under  the  binnacle,  he  might  have  hastened 
to  take  it  away. 

In  fact,  it  was  a  piece  of  iron,  whose  influence  had  just 
altered  the  indications  of  the  compass.     The  magnetic  needle 


A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEIS".  83 

had  been  deviated,  and  instead  of  marking  the  magnetic 
north,  which  differs  a  httle  from  the  north  of  the  world,  it 
marked  the  northeast.  It  was,  then,  a  deviation  of  four 
points;  in  other  words,  of  half  a  right  angle. 

Tom  soon  recovered  from  his  drowsiness.  His  eyes  were 
fixed  on  the  compass.  He  believed,  he  had  reason  to  believe, 
that  the  "Pilgrim  ''  was  not  in  the  right  direction.  He  then 
moved  the  helm  so  as  to  head  the  ship  to  the  east — at  least, 
he  thought  so. 

But,  with  the  deviation  of  the  needle,  which  he  could  not 
suspect,  that  point,  changed  by  four  points,  was  the  south- 
east. 

And  thus,  while  under  the  action  of  a  favorable  wind,  the 
•' Pi Igi-im"  was  supposed  to  follow  the  direction  wished  for, 
she  sailed  with  an  error  of  forty -five  degrees  in  her  route! 


CHAPTER  XI. 

TEMPEST. 

During  the  week  which  followed  that  event,  from  the  14th 
of  February  to  the  21st,  no  incident  took  place  on  board. 
The  Avind  from  the  northwest  freshened  gradually,  and  the 
"  Pilgrim  "  sailed  rapidly,  making  on  an  average  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  was  nearly  all  that 
could  be  asked  of  a  vessel  of  that  size. 

Dick  Sand  thought  the  schooner  must  be  approaching  those 
parts  more  fref|uented  l)y  the  merchant  vessels  which  seek  to 
])ass  from  one  licmisphere  to  the  other.  The  novice  was  al- 
ways hoping  to  encounter  one  of  those  ships,  and  he  clearly 
intended  either  to  transfer  his  passengers,  or  to  borrow  some 
additicmal  sailors,  and  perhaps  an  officer.  But,  though  he 
watched  vigilantly,  no  ship  could  be  signaled,  and  the  sea 
was  always  deserted. 

Dick  Sand  continued  to  be  somewhat  astonished  at  that. 
Tie  had  crossed  this  part  of  the  Pacific  several  times  during 
his  three  fishing  voyages  to  the  Southern  Seas.  Tsow,  in  the 
latitude  and  longitude  where  his  reckoiiing  ])ut  him,  it  was 
seldom  that  some  English  or  American  shij)  did  not  a])])('ar, 
ascending  from  Ca))e  Horn  toward  the  cf(uator,  or  coming  to- 
ward the  extreme  point  <if  South  America. 

But  what  Dick  Sand  was  ignorant  of,  Avhal  he  could  not 
even  discover,  was  that  the  "  I'ilgriin  "  was  already  in  higher 


84  A   CAFTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN". 

latitude — that  is  to  say,  more  to  the  soutli  than  he  supposed. 
That  was  so  for  two  reasons: 

The  first  was,  that  the  currents  of  these  parts,  whose  swift- 
ness the  novice  could  only  ini])crfectly  estinuite,  liad  contrib- 
uted— while  he  could  not  possibly  keep  account  of  them — to 
throw  the  shij)  out  of  her  route. 

Tile  secoiul  was,  that  tlie  compass,  made  inaccurate  by  Ne- 
iroro's  p^uilty  hand,  lienccforth  only  gave  incorrect  bearings — 
bearings  that,  since  the  loss  of  the  second  compass,  Dick  Sand 
could  not  control.  So  that,  believing  aiul  liaving  reason  to 
believe  that  he  was  sailing  eastward,  in  reality,  he  was  sailing 
southeast.  The  compass,  it  was  always  before  his  eyes.  The 
log,  it  was  thrown  regularly.  His  two  instruments  permit- 
ted him,  in  a  certain  measure,  to  direct  the  "  Pilgrim,"  and 
to  estimate  the  number  of  miles  sailed.  But,  then,,  was  that 
sufficient? 

However,  the  novice  always  did  his  best  to  reassure  Mrs. 
Weldon,  whom  the  incidents  of  this  voyage  must  at  times 
render  anxious. 

"We  shall  arrive,  we  shall  arrive!"  he  repeated.  ''We 
shall  reach  the  American  coast,  here  or  there;  it  matters 
little,  on  the  whole,  but  we  cannot  fail  to  land  there!" 

"I  do  not  doubt  it,  Dick." 

"  Of  course,  Mrs.  Weldon,  I  should  be  more  at  ease  if  you 
were  not  on  board — if  we  had  only  ourselves  to  answer  for: 
but " 

"  But  if  I  were  not  on  board,"  Replied  Mrs.  Weldon;  "if 
Cousin  Benedict,  Jack,  Nan  and  I,  had  not  taken  passage  on 
the  '  Pilgrim,'  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  Tom  and  his  com- 
panions had  not  been  picked  up  at  sea,  Dick,  there  would  be 
only  two  men  here,  you  and  Kegoro!  What  would  have  be- 
come of  you,  alone  with  that  wicked  man,  in  whom  you  can- 
not have  confidence?  Yes,  my  child,  what  would  have 
become  of  you  ?" 

"  I  should  have  begun,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  resolutely,  "by 
putting  Xegoro  where  he  could  not  injure  me." 

"And  you  would  have  work'cd  alone?" 

"Yes — alone — with  the  aid  of  God!" 

The  firmness  of  these  words  Avas  well  calculated  to  en- 
courage Mrs.  Weldon.  But,  nevertheless,  while  thinking  of 
lv?r  little  Jack,  she  often  felt  uneasy.  If  the  woman  would 
not  show  what  she  experienced  as  a  mother,  she  did  not 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  85 

always  succeed  in  preventing  some  secret  anguish  for  him  to 
rend  her  heart. 

MeanAvliile.  if  tlie  young  novice  was  not  sufficiently  ad- 
vanced in  his  hydrographic  studies  to  make  his  point,  he 
possessed  a  true  sailor  s  scent,  when  the  question  was  "  to  tell 
the  weatlier. "  The  appearance  of  the  sky,  for  one  thing;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  indications  of  the  barometer,  enabled  him 
to  be  on  his  guard.  Captain  Hull,  a  good  meteorologist,  had 
taught  him  to  consult  this  instrument,  whose  prognostica- 
tions are  remarkably  sure. 

Here  is,  in  a  few  words,  what  the  notices  relative  to  the 
observation  of  the  barometer  contain: 

1.  "When,  after  a  rather  long  continuance  of  fine  weather, 
the  barometer  begins  to  fall  in  a  sudden  and  continuous  man- 
ner, rain  will  certainly  fall;  but,  if  the  fine  weather  has  had 
a  long  duration,  the  mercury  may  fall  two  or  three  days  in 
the  tube  of  the  barometer  before  any  change  in  the  state  of 
the  atmosphere  may  be  perceived.  Then,  the  longer  the  time 
between  the  falling  of  the  mercury  and  the  arrival  of  the  rain, 
the  longer  will  be  the  duration  of  rainy  weather. 

2.  It,  on  the  contrary,  during  a  rainy  jieriod  which  has 
already  had  a  long  duration,  the  barometer  commences  to  rise 
slowly  and  regularly,  very  certainly  fine  weather  will  come, 
and  it  will  last  much  longer  if  a  long  interval  elapses  between 
its  arrival  and  the  rising  of  the  barometer. 

3.  In  tlie  two  cases  given,  if  the  change  of  weather  follows 
immediately  the  movement  of  the  barometrical  column,  that 
cliaiige  will  last  only  a  very  short  time. 

4.  If  the  barometer  rises  with  slowness  and  in  a  continu- 
ous manner  for  two  or  three  days,  or  even  more,  it  announces 
fine  weather,  even  when  the  rain  will  not  cease  during  those 
three  days,  and  vim  versa;  but  if  the  barometer  rises  two 
days  or  more  during  the  rain,  then,  the  fine  weather  having 
come,  if  it  commences  to  fall  again,  the  fine  Aveatlier  will  last 
a  very  short  time,  and  vice  versa. 

5.  In  the  spring  and  in  the  autumn,  a  sudden  fall  of  the 
barometer  ])r('sagi'S  wind.  In  the  summer,  if  the  weatlu-r  is 
very  warm,  it  announces  a  .storm.  In  winter,  after  a  frost  of 
some  duration,  a  rapid  falling  of  the  barometrical  column  an- 
nouiu-es  a  change  of  wind,  accompanied  by  a  thaw  and  ram; 
l>ut  a  rising  which  ha]i|ien.s  during  a  fnjst  which  has  already 
lasted  a  ceitain   tiiiH',  j»rognostieatcs  snow. 


86  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTKEN". 

n.  Kapid  opoillations  of  tlic  1)aroniotcr  should  never  be  in- 
toriirelod  as  ])ivsairiii<j^  dry  or  rainy  Aveatlier  of  any  duration. 
Thoso  indications  are  given  exclusively  by  the  rising  or  tbe 
falling  which  takes  ])lace  in  ii  slow  and  continuous  manner. 

7.  Toward  the  end  of  autumn,  if  after  prolonged  rainy  and 
windy  Aveather,  the  barometer  begins  to  rise,  that  rising  an- 
nounces the  passage  of  the  wind  to  the  north  and  the  aj)- 
proach  of  the  frost. 

Such  are  the  general  consequences  to  draw  from  the  indi- 
cations of  this  precious  instrument. 

Dick  Sand  knew  all  that  perfectly  well,  as  he  had  ascer- 
tained for  himself  in  different  circumstances  of  his  sailor's 
life,  which  made  him  very  skill'ful  in  putting  himself  on  his 
guard  against  all  contingencies. 

>>"ow,  just  toward  the  20th  of  February,  the  oscillations  of 
the  barometrical  column  began  to  preoccupy  the  young  novice, 
who  noted  them  several  times  a  day  Avith  much  care.  In  fact, 
tlie  barometer  began  to  fall  in  a  slow  and  continuous  manner, 
which  presages  rain;  but,  this  rain  being  delayed,  Dick  Sand 
concluded  from  that,  that  the  bad  Aveather  Avould  last.  That 
is  Avhat  must  ha})pen. 

But  the  rain,  was  the  Avind,  and  in  fact,  at  that  date,  the 
breeze  freshened  so  much  that  the  air  was  displaced  with  a 
velocity  of  sixty  feet  a  second,  say  thirty-one  miles  an  hour. 

Dick  Sand  Avas  obliged  to  take  some  precautions  so  as  not 
to  risk  the  "Pilgrim's"  masting  and  sails. 

Already  he  had  the  royal,  the  fore-staff,  and  the  flying-Jib 
taken  in,  and  he  resolved  to  do  the  same  with  the  top-sail, 
then  take  in  tAvo  reefs  in  the  top-sail. 

This  last  operation  must  present  certain  difficulties  with  a 
crew  of  little  experience,  llesitation  w^ouldnot  do,  hoA\'ever, 
and  no  one  hesitated.  Dick  Sand,  accom])anied  by  Bat  and 
Austin,  climbed  into  the  rigging  of  the  foremast,  and  suc- 
ceeded, not  without  trouble,  in  taking  in  the  top-sail.  In 
less  threatening  Aveather  he  Avould  have  left  the  tAvo  yards  on 
the  mast,  but,  foreseeing  that  he  Avould  i)robably  be  obliged 
to  level  that  mast,  and  ]jerhaps  even  1o  lay  it  doAvn  upon  the 
deck,  he  unrigged  the  tAvo  yards  and  sent  them  to  the  deck. 
In  fact,  it  is  understood  that  Avhen  the  Avind  becomes  too 
strong,  not  only  must  the  sails  be  diminished,  but  also  the 
masting.  That  is  a  great  relief  to  the  ship,  Avhich,  carrying 
less  AA'eight  above,  is  no  longer  so  much  strained  with  the 
rolling  and  pitching. 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  87 

This  first  work  accomplished — and  it  took  two  hours — Dick 
Sand  and  his  companions  were  busy  reducing  the  surface  of 
the  top-sail,  by  taking  in  two  reefs.  The  "  Pilgrim  "  did  not 
carry,  like  the  majority  of  modern  ships,  a  double  top-sail, 
which  facilitates  the  operation.  It  was  necessary,  then,  to 
work  as  formerly — that  is  to  say,  to  run  out  on  the  foot-ropes, 
l)ull  toward  you  a  sail  beaten  by  the  wind,  and  lash  it  firmly 
Avith  its  reef-lmes.  It  was  difficult,  long,  perilous;  but, 
finally,  the  diminished  top-sail  gave  less  surface  to  the  wind, 
and  the  schooner  was  much  relieved. 

Dick  Sand  came  down  again  with  Bat  and  Austin.  The 
''Pilgrim '' was  then  in  the  sailing  condition  demanded  by 
that  state  of  the  atmosphere  which  has  been  qualified  as  "  very 
stiff." 

During  the  three  days  which  followed,  20th,  21st  and  22nd  of 
February,  the  force  and  direction  of  the  wind  were  not  per- 
ceptibly changed.  All  the  time  the  mercury  continued  to  fall 
in  the  barometrical  tube,  and,  on  this  last  day,  the  novice 
noted  that  it  kept  continually  below  twenty-eight  and  seven- 
tenths  inches. 

Besides,  there  was  no  appearance  that  the  barometer  would 
rise  for  some  time.  I'he  asi)cct  of  the  sky  Avas  bad,  and  ex- 
tremely windy.  Besides,  thick  fogs  covered  it  constantly. 
Their  stratum  was  even  so  deep  that  the  sun  was  no  longer 
seen,  and  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  indicate  precisely  the 
place  of  his  setting  and  rising. 

Dick  Sand  began  to  be  anxious.  He  no  longer  left  the 
deck;  he  hardly  slept.  However,  his  moral  energy  enabled 
him  to  drive  back  his  fears  to  the  bottom  of  his  heart. 

The  next  day,  February  23rd,  the  breeze  appeared  to  de- 
crease a  little  in  the  morning,  but  Dick  Sand  did  not  trust  in 
it.  He  was  right,  for  in  the  afternoon  the  wind  freshened 
again,  and  the  sea  became  rougher. 

Toward  four  o'clock,  Negoro,  who  was  rarely  scon,  left  his 
])0.st  and  came  up  on  the  forecastle.  Dingo,  doubtless,  was 
8leoj)ing  HI  some  corner,  for  it  did  not  l)ark  as  usual. 

Xegoro,  always  silent,  remained  for  half  an  hour  observing 
the  horizon. 

Long  surges  succeeded  each  other  without,  as  yet,  I  icing 
dashed  togc-thcr.  However,  they  were  higher  than  the  force 
of  the  wind  accounted  for.  One  must  conclude  from  Ihat, 
that  there  was  very  bad   weather  in  the  west,  jjorhaps  at  ii 


8R  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

ratluM-  short  distniu'c.  and  tliai  it  ■would  not  be  long  in  rcach- 
iiiiX  those  j)avts. 

Xe.ixoro  watched  that  vast  extent  of  sea,  whieh  was  greatly 
troubled,  arouiul  the  "  Pilgrim."  Then  his  eyes,  always  cold 
and  dry,  turned  toward  the  ><ky. 

'J'he  aspect  of  the  sky  was  disturbing.  The  vapors  moved 
with  very  dilTerent  velocities.  The  clouds  of  the  upjier  zone 
traveled  more  rapidly  than  those  of  the  low  stiata  of  the  at- 
mosi)here.  The  case  then  must  be  foreseen,  in  which  those 
heavy  masses  would  fall,  and  might  change  into  a  tempest, 
perhaps  a  hurricane,  what  was  yet  only  a  very  stiff  breeze — that 
is  to  say,  a  displacement  of  the  air  at  the  rate  of  forty-three 
miles  an  hour. 

AVhether  Negoro  was  not  a  man  to  be  frightened,  or  whether 
lie  understood  nothing  of  tlie  threats  of  the  weather,  he  did 
not  ap))ear  to  ]»e  aftected.  However,  an  evil  smile  glided 
over  his  lips.  One  would  say,  at  the  end  of  his  observations, 
that  this  state  of  things  Avas  rather  calculated  to  please  him 
than  to  displease  him.  One  moment  he  mounted  on  the 
bo\vs})rit  and  crawled  as  far  as  the  ro])es,  so  as  to  extend  his 
range  of  vision,  as  if  he  were  seeking  some  indication  on  the 
horizon.  Then  he  descended  again,  and  tranquilly,  without 
luiving  pronounced  a  single  word,  without  having  made  a 
gesture,  he  regained  the  crew's  quarters. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  midst  of  all  these  fearful  conjunctions, 
there  remained  one  happy  circumstance  which  each  one  on 
board  ought  to  remember;  it  Avas  that  this  wind,  violent  as 
it  was  or  miglit  become,  was  favoral)]e,  and  that  the  "  Pil- 
grim "  seemed  to  be  rapidly  making  the  American  coast.  If, 
indeed,  the  weather  did  not  turn  to  tempest,  tliis  navigation 
would  continue  to  be  accomidished  Avithout  great  danger,  and 
the  veritable  perils  Avould  only  spring  up  when  the  question 
would  be  to  land  on  some  badly  ascertained  jioint  of  the  coast. 

That  was  indeed  what  Dick  Sand  was  already  asking  him- 
self. "When  he  should  once  make  the  land,  how  should  he 
act,  if  he  did  not  encounter  some  pilot,  some  one  Avho  kncAV 
the  coast?  In  case  the  lad  weather  should  oblige  him  to 
seek  a  jjort  of  refuge,  what  should  he  do,  because  that  coast 
was  to  him  absolutely  unknown?  Indeed,  he  had  not  yet  to 
troulile  himself  with  that  contingency.  However,  Avhcn  tl:C 
hour  should  come,  he  would  be  obliged  to  adopt  some  islan. 
Well,  iJick  tSand  adopted  one. 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEX.  SO 

During  the  thirteen  davs  which  elapsed,  from  the  24th  of 
February  to  the  9th  of  March,  the  state  of  the  atmosphere 
did  not  change  in  any  perceptible  manner.  The  sky  was  al- 
ways loaded  with  heavy  fogs.  For  a  few  hours  the  wind  went 
down,  then  it  began  to  blow  again  with  the  same  force.  Two 
or  three  times  the  baropieter  rose  again,  but  its  oscillation, 
comiirising  a  dozen  lines,  was  too  sudden  to  announce  a 
change  of  weather  and  a  return  of  more  manageable  winds. 
Besides,  the  barometrical  column  fell  again  almost  immedi- 
ately, and  nothing  could  inspire  any  hope  of  the  end  of  that 
bad  weather  within  a  short  ])criod. 

Terrible  storms  burst  forth  also,  which  very  seriously  dis- 
turbed Dick  Sand.  Two  or  three  times  the  lightning  struck 
the  waves  only  a  few  cable-lengths  from  the  ship.  Then  the 
rain  fell  in  torrents,  and  made  those  whirlpools  of  half  con- 
densed vapors,  which  surrounded  the  "  Pilgrim  "  with  a  thick 
mist. 

For  entire  hours  the  man  at  the  lookout  saw  nothing,  and 
the  ship  sailed  at  random. 

Even  though  the  ship,  although  resting  firmly  on  the 
waves,  was  horribly  shaken,  ]\lrs.  Wcldon,  fortunately,  sup- 
ported this  rolling  and  i)itching  without  being  incommoded. 
But  her  little  boy  was  very  much  tried,  and  she  was  obliged 
to  give  him  all  her  care. 

As  to  Cousin  Benedict,  he  was  no  more  sick  than  the 
American  cockroaches  which  he  made  his  society,  and  lie 
passed  his  time  in  studying,  as  if  he  were  cpiietly  settled  in 
his  study  in  San  Francisco. 

Very  'fortunately,  also,  Tom  and  his  companions  found 
tliemselves  little  sensitive  to  sea-sickness,  and  they  could  con- 
tinue to  come  to  the  young  novice's  aid — well  accustomed, 
himself,  to  all  those  excessive  movements  of  a  ship  which 
flies  before  the  weatlier. 

The  *'  Pilgrim  "  ran  rapidly  under  this  reduced  sail,  and 
already  Dick  Sand  foresaw  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  reduce 
it  again.  ]iut  he  wished  to  liold  out  as  long  as  it  would  be 
possible  to  do  so  witliout  danger.  According  to  his  reckon- 
ing, the  coast  ought  to  be  no  longer  distant.  So  they  watched 
witb  care.  All  the  time  the  novice  could  hardly  trust  his 
companions'  eyes  to  discover  the  first  indications  of  land.  In 
fact,  no  nujtter  Avliat  good  sight  lie  may  have,  he  who  is  not 
accustomed  to  interrogating  the  sea  horizons  is  not  skilful  in 
distinguishing  the  first  contours  of  a  coast,  above  all  in  tlie 


00  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN". 

iiiiildlo  of  fop:s.  So  Dick  Sand  must  watch  himself,  niid  lie 
oftoii  oliinlti'd  as  far  as  the  spars  to  sec  better.  But  no  sign 
yet  of  the  American  coast. 

This  astonislu'd  liim.  and  Mrs.  AVeldon,  by  some  words 
Avliich  escaped  luni,  understood  that  astonishment. 

It  was  tlic  !)th  of  ^larch.  The  ijovicc  kei)t  at  the  ])row, 
sometimes  observing  the  sea  and  the  sky,  sometimes  looking 
at  tlie  •'  Pilgrim's  "  masting,  which  began  to  strain  under  the 
force  of  the  Avind. 

'*  You  see  nothing  yet,  Dick?"  she  asked  him,  at  a  moment 
when  he  had  just  left  the  long  lookout. 

*'  Nothing,  Mrs,  Weldon,  nothing,"  replied  the  novice; 
"and,  meanwhile,  the  horizon  seems  to  clear  a  little  under 
this  violent  wind,  which  is  going  to  blow  still  hai'der." 

"And,  according  to  you,  Dick,  the  American  coast  ought 
not  to  be  distant  now." 

"It  cannot  be,  Mrs.  Weldon,  and  if  anything  astonishes 
me,  it  is  not  having  made  it  yet." 

"Meanwhile,"  continued  Mrs.  Weldon,  "the  ship  has 
always  followed  the  right  course." 

"Always,  since  the  wind  settled  in  the  northwest,"  replied 
Dick  Sand;  "  that  is  to  say,  since  the  day  when  we  lost  our 
unfortunate  captain  and  his  crew.  That  was  the  10th  of 
Fel)ruary.  We  are  now  on  the  9th  of  March.  There  have 
been,  then,  twenty-seven  days  since  that." 

"  But  at  that  period  what  distance  were  we  from  the  coast?" 
asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  About  four  thousand,  five  hundred  miles,  Mrs.  Weldon. 
If  there  are  things  about  which  I  have  more  than  a  doubt,  I 
can  at  least  guarantee  this  figure  within  about  twenty  miles. " 

"And  what  has  been  the  shii)'s  speed?" 

"  On  an  average,  a  hundred  and  eighty  miles  a  day  since 
the  Avind  freshened,"  replied  the  novice.  "  So,  I  am  sur- 
prised at  not  being  in  sight  of  land.  And,  what  is  still  more 
extraordinary,  is  that  we  do  not  meet  even  a  single  one  of 
those  vessels  which  generally  frequent  these  parts!" 

"'  Could  you  not  be  deceived,  Dick,"  returned  Mrs.  Wel- 
don, "in  estimating  the  'Pilgrim's'  speed?" 

"No,  Mrs.  Weldon.  On  that  point  I  could  not  be  mis- 
taken. The  log  has  been  thrown  every  half  hour,  and  I  have 
taken  its  indications  very  accuratelv.  Wait,  I  am  going  to 
liave  it  thrown  anew,  aud  you  will  see  that  we  are  sailing  at 


WKU.,  THK.N,"  ItKI'I.IKI)   NKdO.ill,  '•  l.krr  U/l  Od.      I    KNOW  DK.K  HAND.      UK  WIM 
MiT  IiKI.AY  AN  liufll'."-  .See  J'm/e  IttO. 


A   CAPTAIIT   AT   FIFTEEIT.  91 

this  moment  at  tlio  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  which  would 
give  ns  more  than  two  hundred  miles  a  day." 

Dick  ,Sand  called  Tom.  and  gave  liim  the  order  to  throw 
the  log,  an  operation  to  which  the  old  black  was  now  quite 
accustomed. 

The  log,  firmly  fastened  to  the  end  of  the  line,  was  brought 
and  sent  out. 

Twenty-five  fathoms  were  hardly  unrolled,  when  the  rope 
suddenly  slackened  between  Tom's  hands. 

"Ah!  Mr.  Uick!"  cried  he. 

''Well,  Tom?" 

"  The  rope  has  broken!" 

"Broken!"  cried  Dick  Sand.     "And  the  log  is  lost!" 

Old  Tom  showed  the  end  of  the  rope  which  remained  in 
his  hand. 

It  was  only  too  true.  It  was  not  the  fastening  which  had 
failed.  The  rope  had  broken  in  the  middle,  And,  neverthe- 
less, that  ro])C  was  of  the  first  (juality.  It  must  have  been, 
then,  that  the  strands  of  the  rope  at  the  point  of  rupture 
were  singularly  Avorn!  They  were,  in  fact,  and  Dick  Sand 
could  tell  that  when  he  had  the  end  of  the  rope  in  his  hands! 
But  had  they  become  so  by  use?  was  what  the  novice,  be- 
come sus])icious,  asked  himself. 

However  that  was,  the  log  Avas  now  lost,  and  Dick  Sand 
had  no  longer  any  means  of  telling  exactly  the  speed  of  his 
ship.  In  the  way  of  instruments,  he  only  possessed  one 
compass,  and  he  did  not  know  that  its  indications  were 
false. 

Mrs.  Wcldon  saw  him  so  saddened  by  this  accident,  that 
she  did  not  wish  to  insist,  and,  with  a  very  heavy  heart,  she 
retired  into  her  cabin. 

]iut  if  the  "  Pilgrim's"  speed  and  consequently  the  Avay 
sailed  over  could  no  longer  be  estimated,  it  was  easy  to  tell 
tliat  the  ship's  headway  was  not  diminishing. 

In  fact,  the  next  day,  JNlarch  10th,  the  barometer  fell  to 
twenty-eight  and  two-tenths  inches.  It  was  the  announce- 
ment of  one  (^f  those  blasts  of  wind  which  travel  as  miicli  as 
sixty  miles  an  iiour. 

It  became  urgent  to  change  once  more  the  state  of  the  sails, 
so  as  not  to  risk  the  security  of  the  vessel. 

Dick  Sand  resolved  to  })ring  down  his  top-gallant  mast  and 
his  fore-staff,  and  to  furl  his  low  sails,  so  as  to  sail  under  his 
foretop-m.'ust  stay-sail  and  the  low  reef  of  his  top-sail. 


03  A    CAITAIX    AT   FlPrEEX. 

Ho  called  Tom  and  liis  conijiaiiions  to  lie!])  liim  in  iliat 
dillic'iiU.  operation,  which,  unfortunately,  could  not  bo  exe- 
cuted with  raj>idity. 

And  meanwhile  time  pressed,  for  the  tempest  already  de- 
clared itself  with  violence. 

Dick  Sands,  Austin,  Aeteon,  and  Bat  climbed  into  the 
masting,  while  Tom  remained  at  the  wheel,  and  Hercules  on 
the  deck,  so  as  to  slacken  the  ropes,  as  soon  as  he  was  com- 
manded. 

After  numerous  efforts,  the  fore-staff  and  the  top-gallant 
mast  were  gotten  down  upon  the  deck,  not  Avithout  these 
honest  men  having  a  hundred  times  risked  being  precipitated 
into  the  sea,  the  rolling  shook  the  masting  to  such  an  extent. 
Then,  the  top-sail  having  been  lessened  and  the  foresail  furled, 
the  schooner  carried  only  her  foretop-mast  stay-sail  and  the 
low  reef  of  the  top-sail. 

Even  though  her  sails  were  then  extremely  reduced,  the 
"Pilgrim"  continued,  none  the  less,  to  sail  with  excessive  ve- 
locity. 

The  1:2th  the  weather  took  a  still  worse  appearance.  On 
that  day,  at  dawn,  Dick  Sand  saw,  not  without  terror,  the 
barometer  fall  to  twenty-seven  and  nine-tenths  inches. 

It  was  a  real  temjiest  which  was  raging,  and  such  that  the 
"Pilgrim"  could  not  carry  even  the  little  sail  she  had 
left. 

Dick  Sand,  seeing  that  his  top-sail  was  going  to  be  torn, 
gave  the  order  to  furl.  But  it  was  in  vain.  A  more  violent 
gust  struck  the  ship  at  that  moment,  and  tore  oft'  the  sail. 
Austin,  who  was  on  the  yard  of  the  foretop-sail,  was  struck 
by  the  larboard  sheet-rope.  A^'ounded,  but  rather  slightly, 
lie  could  climb  down  again  to  the  deck. 

Dick  Sand,  extremely  anxious,  liad  but  one  thought.  It 
Avas  that  the  ship,  urged  w^th  such  fury,  was  going  to  be 
dashed  to  pieces  every  moment;  for,  according  to  his  calcu- 
lation, the  rocks  of  the  coast  could  not  be  distant.  He  then 
returned  to  the  prow,  but  he  saw  nothing  which  liad  the  ap- 
])earance  of  land,  and  then  came  back  to  the  wheel. 

A  moment  after  Xegoro  came  on  deck.  There,  Buddenlj', 
as  if  in  spite  of  himself,  his  arm  was  extended  toward  a  point 
of  the  horizon.  One  would  say  that  he  recognized  some  high 
land  in  the  fogs  I 

Still,  once  more  he  smiled  wickedly,  and  without  sayij.g 


A    CAPTAIif   AT   FIFTEENS".  93 

anything  of  what  he  had  been  able  to  see,  he  reLurned  to  liis 
post. 


C  HAPTE  E     XII. 

ox    THE   HORIZOX. 

At  that  date  the  tempest  took  its  most  terrible  form,  that 
of  the  hurricane.  The  wind  had  set  in  from  the  southwest. 
The  air  moved  with  a  velocity  of  ninety  miles  an  hour.  It 
was  indeed  a  hurricane,  in  fact,  one  of  those  terrible  wind- 
storms which  wrecks  all  the  ships  of  a  roadstead,  and  which, 
even  on  land,  the  most  solid  structures  cannot  resist.  Such 
was  the  one  which,  on  the  25th  of  July,  1825,  devastated 
Guadaloupe.  When  heavy  cannons,  carrying  balls  of  twenty- 
four  pounds,  are  raised  from  their  carriages,  one  may  imagine 
what  would  become  of  a  ship  which  has  no  other  point  of 
support  than  an  unsteady  sea?  And  meanwhile,  it  is  to  its 
mobility  alone  that  she  may  owe  her  salvation.  She  yields 
to  the  wind,  and,  provided  she  is  strongly  built,  she  is  in  a 
condition  to  brave  the  most  violent  surges.  That  Avas  the 
case  with  the  "Pilgrim." 

A  few  miniites  after  the  top-sail  had  been  torn  in  pieces, 
the  forctop-mast  stay-sail  was  in  its  turn  torn  off.  Dick 
Sand  must  then  give  up  the  idea  of  setting  even  a  storm-jib — 
a  small  sail  of  strong  linen,  which  would  make  the  ship  easier 
to  govern. 

The  "Pilgrim"  then  ran  without  canvas,  but  the  wind 
took  effect  on  her  hull,  her  masts,  her  rigging,  and  nothing 
more  was  needed  to  impart  to  her  an  excessive  velocity. 
Sometimes  even  she  seemed  to  emerge  from  the  waves,  and  it 
was  to  be  believed  that  she  hardly  grazed  them.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  rolling  of  the  shi]i,  tossed  a])out  on  the 
enormous  Ijillows  raised  by  the  tempest,  was  frightful,  '^riiere 
was  danger  of  receiving  some  monstrous  surge  aft.  Those 
mountains  of  water  ran  faster  than  the  schooner,  threatening 
to  strike  her  stern  if  she  did  not  rise  ])ietty  fast.  That  is  ex- 
treme danger  for  evei-y  shij)  which  scuds  before  the  tempest. 
]>ut  what  could  1)0  rlone  to  ward  off  that  cojitingcncy? 
Creatcr  8j)ecd  could  not  be  im})artcd  to  the  '*  I'ilgrim,"  be- 
cause she  would  i.ot  liavo  kcjit  the  smallest  ])iece  of  canvas. 
She  must  then  be  managed  as  much  as  possible  by  means  of 
the  l)clm,  wliosc  action  was  often  powerless. 


94:  A    CATTATX    AT   FIFTEEN". 

Dick  Sand  no  longer  left  the  helm.  He  was  lashed  by  the 
Avaist,  so  as  not  to  bo  carried  away  by  some  snrge.  Tom  and 
Bat,  fastened  also,  stood  near  to  lielp  him.  Ilereules  and 
Acteon,  bound  to  tlie  bitts,  watched  forward.  As  to  Mrs. 
AVeidon,  to  little  Jack,  to  Cousin  Benedict,  to  Nan,  they  re- 
mained, by  ortler  of  the  novice,  in  the  aft  cabins.  Mrs. 
Weldon  would  have  preferred  to  have  remained  on  deck,  but 
Dick  Sand  was  strongly  opposed  to  it;  it  would  be  exposing 
herself  uselessl3% 

All  the  scuttles  had  been  hermetically  nailed  xip.  It  was 
hoped  that  they  would  resist  if  some  formidable  billow  should 
fall  on  the  ship.  If,  by  any  mischance,  they  should  yield 
under  the  weight  of  these  avalanches,  the  ship  might  lill  and 
sink.  Very  fortunately,  also,  the  stowage  had  been  well  at- 
tended to,  so  that,  notwithstanding  the  terrible  tossing  of  the 
vessel,  her  cargo  was  not  moved  about. 

Dick  Sand  had  again  reduced  the  number  of  hours  which 
he  gaA^e  to  sleep.  So  Mrs.  Weldon  began  to  fear  that  he 
would  take  sick.     Slie  made  him  consent  to  take  some  repose. 

Now,  it  was  while  he  was  still  lying  down,  during  the  night 
of  the  13th  to  the  l-ith  of  March,  that  a  new  incident  took 
place, 

Tom  and  Bat  were  aft,  when  Negoro,  who  rarely  appeared 
on  that  part  of  the  deck,  drew  near,  and  even  seemed  to  wish 
to  enter  into  conversation  with  them;  but  Tom  and  his  son 
did  not  reply  to  him. 

Suddenly,  in  a  violent  rolling  of  the  ship,  Negoro  fell,  and 
he  would,  doubtless,  have  been  thrown  into  the  sea  if  he  had 
not  held  on  to  the  binnacle. 

Tom  gave  a  cry,  fearing  the  compass  would  be  broken. 

Dick  Sand,  in  a  moment  of  wakefulness,  heard  that  cry, 
and  rushing  out  of  his  quarters,  he  ran  aft. 

Negoro  had  already  risen,  but  he  held  in  his  hand  the  piece 
of  iron  which  he  had  just  taken  from  under  the  binnacle,  and 
he  hid  it  before  Dick  Sand  could  see  it. 

Was  it,  then,  Xegoro's  interest  for  the  magnetic  needle  to 
return  to  its  true  direction?  Yes,  for  these  southwest  winds 
served  him  now! 

"  What's  the  matter?"  asked  the  novice. 

"It's  that  cook  of  misfortune,  who  has  just  fallen  on  the 
compassi"  re})lied  Tom. 

At  those  words  Dick  Sand,  in  the  greatest  anxiety,  leaned 
oyer  the  binnacle.     It  was  in  good  condition;  the  compass. 


A  CAPTAIK  AT  FIFTEEK.  95 

lighted  by  two  lamps,  rested  as  usual  on  its  two  concentric 
circles. 

The  young  novice  was  greatly  affected.  The  breaking  of 
the  only  compass  on  board  would  be  an  irreparable  mis- 
fortune. 

But  what  Dick  Sand  could  not  observe  was  that,  since  the 
taking  away  of  the  piece  of  iron,  the  needle  had  returned  to 
its  normal  position,  and  indicated  exactly  the  magnetic  north 
as  it  ought  to  be  under  that  meridian. 

Meanwhile,  if  Negoro  could  not  be  made  responsible  for  a 
fall  which  seemed  to  be  involuntary,  Dick  Sand  had  reason 
to  be  astonished  that  he  was,  at  that  hour,  aft  in  the  ship. 

"  What  are  you  doing  there?"  he  asked  him. 

"AMiat  I  please,"  replied  Xcgoro. 

"  You  say "  cried  Dick  Sand,  who  could  not  restrain 

his  anger. 

"I  say,"  replied  the  head  cook,  *' that  there  is  no  rule 
which  forbids  walking  aft." 

''  Well,  I  make  that  the  rule,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "and  I 
forbid  you,  remember,  to  come  aft." 

"Indeed!"  replied  Negoro. 

That  man,  so  entirely  under  self-control,  then  made  a  men- 
acing gesture. 

Tlie  novice  drew  a  revolver  from  his  pocket,  and  pointed  it 
at  the  head  cook. 

"  Negoro,"  said  he,  "  recollect  that  I  am  never  without 
tills  revolver,  and  that  on  the  first  act  of  insubordination  I 
shall  blow  out  your  brains!" 

At  that  moment  Negoro  felt  himself  irresistibly  bent  to  the 
deck. 

It  was  Hercules,  who  had  just  simply  laid  his  heavy  hand 
on  Negoro's  shoulder. 

"Captain  Sand,"  said  the  giant,  "do  you  want  me  to 
throw  this  rascal  ovcrl)oard?  lie  will  regale  the  fishes,  who 
are  not  hard  to  ])loase!" 

"Not  yet,"  replied  Dick  Sand. 

Negoro"  rose  as  soon  as  the  bhick's  hand  no  longer  weighed 
upon  him.     But,  in  passing  Hercules: 

"  Accursed  negi-o,"  murmured  he,  "  I'll  ])ay  you  back!" 

Meanwhile,  the  wind  had  just  changed;  at  least,  it  seemed 
to  have  veered  round  forty-tive  degrees.  And,  notwithstatid- 
ing,  asingiilar  tiling,  which  struck  the  novice,  notliiugin  the 
condition  of  the  ecu  indicated  that  cliange.     'J'he  ship  iieaded 


90  A    CAPTAIN    AT   I'lFTEEN". 

the  same  "svav  all  the  lime,  but  llie  Avind  and  the  waves,  in- 
stead uf  taking  her  directly  aft,  now  struck  her  by  the  hir- 
board  quarter — a  very  dangerous  situation,  whicli  exjwses  a 
ship  to  receive  bad  surges.  SoJ)iek  Sand  was  obliged  to  veer 
round  four  points  to  continue  to  scud  before  tlie  tempest. 

But,  on  the  other  liand,  liis  attention  was  awakened  more 
than  ever.  lie  asked  himself  if  there  was  not  some  connec- 
tion between  Negoro's  fall  and  the  breaking  of  the  tirst  com- 
])ass.  What  did  the  head  cook  intend  to  do  there?  Had  lie 
some  interest  in  })utting  the  second  compass  out  of  service 
also?  "What  could  that  interest  be?  There  was  no  ex])lana- 
tion  of  that.  ]\Iust  not  Negoro  desire,  as  they  all  desired,  to 
land  on  the  American  coast  as  soon  as  possible? 

AVhen  Dick  Sand  spoke  of  this  incident  to  Mrs.  Weldon, 
the  latter,  though  she  shared  his  distrust  in  a  certain 
measure,  could  find  no  ]ilausible  motive  for  Avhat  would  be 
criminal  premeditation  on  the  ])art  of  the  head  cook. 

However,  as  a  matter  of  piudcnce,  Negoro  Avas  well 
Avatchcd.  Thereafter  he  attended  to  the  novice's  orders,  and 
he  did  not  risk  coming  aft  in  the  ship,  where  his  duties  never 
called  him.  Besides,  Dingo  having  been  installed  there  per- 
manently, the  cook  took  care  to  \\QQ\i  away. 

During  all  that  week  the  tem])est  did  not  abate.  The 
barometer  fell  again.  From  the  14th  to  the  2Cth  of  March  it 
was  impossible  to  profit  by  a  single  calm  to  set  a  few  sails. 
The  "  I'ilgrim  "  scudded  to  the  northeast  with  a  speed  which 
could  not  be  less  than  two  hundred  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours,  and  still  the  land  did  not  appear! — that  land,  America, 
which  is  thrown  like  an  immense  barrier  between  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific,  over  an  extent  of  more  than  a  hundred  and 
twenty  degrees! 

Dick  Sand  asked  himself  if  he  was  not  a  fool,  if  he  was  still 
in  his  right  mind,  if,  for  so  many  days,  unknown  to  liim,  he 
was  not  sailing  in  a  false  direction.  Ko,  he  could  not  find 
fault  with  himself  on  that  point.  The  sun,  even  though  he 
could  not  perceive  it  in  tlie  fogs,  ahvjiys  rose  before  him  to 
set  behind  iiim.  ]?ut,  then,  that  land,  had  it  disappeared? 
That  America,  on  which  his  vessel  Avould  go  to  pieces,  per- 
haps, Avhere  was  it,  if  it  was'not  there?  Be  it  the  Southern 
Continent  or  the  Xorthern  Continent — for  anything  was  pos- 
sible in  that  chaos — the  "  Pilgrim  "  could  not  miss  either  one 
or  the  other.  What  had  hajipened  since  the  beginning  of 
this  frightful  tempest?     What  was  still  going  on,  as  that 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN".  87 

coast,  whether  it  shoiild  prove  salvatioB  or  destrnction,  did 
not  appear?  Must  Dick  Sand  suppose,  then,  tliat  he  was  de- 
ceived by  his  compass,  whose  indications  he  could  no  longer 
control,  because  the  second  compass  was  lacking  to  make  that 
control?  Truly,  he  had  that  fear  which  the  absence  of  all 
land  might  justify. 

So,  when  he  was  at  the  helm,  Dick  Sand  did  not  cease  to 
devour  the  chart  with  his  eye-:.  But  he  interrogated  it  in 
vain;  it  could  not  give  him  the  solution  of  an  enigma  which, 
in  the  situation  in  which  Xegoro  had  placed  him,  was  incom- 
prehensible for  him,  as  it  would  have  been  for  any  one  else. 

On  this  dav,  however,  the  2Cth  of  March,  towards  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  an  incident  of  the  greatest  importance 
took  place. 

Hercules,  on  watch  forward,  gave  this  cry: 

''Land!  land!" 

Dick  Sand  sprang  to  the  forecastle.  Hercules  could  not 
have  eves  like  a  seaman.     "Was  he  not  mistaken? 

"  Land?''  cried  Dick  Sand. 

"  There,"  replied  Hercules,  showing  an  almost  impercepti- 
ble point  on  the  horizon  in  the  northeast. 

They  hardly  heard  each  other  si)eak  m  the  midst  of  the 
roaring  of  the  sea  and  the  sky. 

•'  You  have  seen  the  land?"  said  the  novice. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Hercules. 

And  his  hand  was  still  stretched  out  to  larboard  forward. 

The  novice  looked.     He  saw  nothing. 

At  that  moment,  Mrs.  Wcldon,  who  had  heard  the  cry 
given  by  Hercules,  came  up  on  deck,  notwithstanding  her 
])romise"not  to  come  there. 

•*  Madam  I"  cried  Dick  Sand. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  unable  to  make  herself  heard,  tried,  for  her- 
self, to  perceive  that  land  signaled  by  the  Ijlack,  and  she 
seemed  to  have  concentrated  all  her  life  in  her  eyes. 

It  must  be  believed  that  Hercules's  hand  indicated  badly 
the  point  of  the  horizon  Avhich  he  wished  to  show:  neither 
Mrs,  Weldon  nor  the  novice  could  see  anything. 

But,  suddenly,  Dick  Sand  in  turn  stretched  out  his  hand. 

"  Yes!  yes!  land!"  said  he. 

A  kind'of  summit  had  just  apjicaied  in  an  oi)ening  in  the 
fog.     His  sailor's  eves  could  not  deceive  him. 

"At  last!"  cried  lie;  "at  last!" 


08  A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

lie  clung  feverislily  to  the  netting.  Mrs.  Wcklon,  sustained 
bv  llorcules,  continued  to  watch  tluit  land  almost  de- 
spaired of. 

'J'he  coast,  formed  by  that  high  summit,  rose  at  a  distance 
of  ten  miles  to  leeward. 

The  opening  being  completely  made  in  {•  breaking  of  the 
clouds,  they  saw  it  again  niore  distinctly.  Doubtless  it  was 
some  promontory  of  the  American  continent.  The  "  Pil- 
grim," without  sails,  was  not  in  a  condition  to  head  toward 
it,  but  it  could  not  fail  to  make  the  land  there. 

That  could  1)C  only  a  question  of  a  few  hours.  Noav,  it 
was  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Then,  very  certainly,  be- 
fore noon  the  *'  Pilgrim"  would  be  near  the  land. 

At  a  sign  from  Dick  Sand,  Hercules  led  Mrs.  Weldon  aft 
again,  for  she  could  not  bear  up  against  the  violence  of  the 
})i  telling. 

The  novice  remained  forward  for  another  instant,  then  he 
returned  to  the  helm,  near  old  Tom. 

At  last,  then,  he  saw  that  coast,  so  slowly  made,  so  ardently 
desired!  but  it  was  now  Avith  a  feeling  of  terror. 

In  fact,  in  the  "  Pilgrim's  "  present  condition,  that  is  to 
say,  scudding  before  the  tempest,  land  to  leeward,  was  ship- 
wreck with  all  its  terrible  contingenciec. 

Two  hours  passed  away.  The  promontory  was  then  seen 
olT  from  the  ship. 

At  that  moment  they  saw  Negoro  come  on  deck.  This 
time  he  regarded  the  coast  with  extreme  attention,  shook  his 
head  like  a  man  who  would  know  what  to  believe,  and  went 
down  again,  after  pronouncing  a  name  that  nobody  could 
hear. 

Dick  Sand  himself  sought  to  perceive  the  coast,  which 
ought  to  round  off  behind  the  promontory. 

Two  hours  rolled  by.  The  promontory  was  standing  on  the 
larboard  stern,  but  the  coast  was  not  yet  to  be  traced. 

Meanwhile  the  sky  cleared  at  the  horizon,  and  a  high  const, 
like  the  American  land,  bordered  by  the  immense  chain  of 
the  Andes,  should  be  visible  for  more  than  twenty  miles. 

Dick  Sand  took  his  telescope  and  moved  it  slowly  over  the 
whole  eastern  horizon. 

ISothingI     He  could  see  nothing! 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  every  trace  of  land  had  dis- 
appeared behind  the  "  Pilgrim."  Forward,  the  telescope 
could  not  seize  any  outline  whatsoever  of  a  coast,  high  or  low. 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN".  99 

Then  a  cry  escaped  Dick  Sand.  Immediately  leaving  the 
deck,  he  rushed  into  tlie  cabin,  where  Mrs.  Weldon  was  with 
little  Jack,  Xan,  and  Coi'isin  Benedict. 

"An  island!     That  was  only  an  island!"  said  he. 

"An  island,  Dick!  but  what?"'  asked  Mrs.  TTeldon. 

"  The  chart  will  tell  us,"  replied  the  novice. 

And  running  to  his  berth,  he  brought  the  ship's  chart. 

"  There,  Mrs.  Weldon,  there!"  said  he.  "  That  land  which 
we  have  seen,  it  can  only  be  this  point,  lost  in  the  middle  of 
the  Pacific!  It  can  only  be  the  Isle  of  Paques;  there  is  no 
other  in  these  parts." 

"And  we  have  already  left  it  behind?"  asked  Mrs.  T^'eldon. 

"Yes,  well  to  the  windward  of  us." 

Mrs.  Weldon  looked  attentively  at  the  Isle  of  Paques,  which 
only  formed  an  imperceptible  point  on  the  chart. 

"And  at  what  distance  is  it  from  the  American  coast?" 

"Thirtv-five  degrees." 

"  "Which  makes " 

"  About  two  thousand  miles." 

"But  then  the  'Pilgrim'  has  not  sailed,  if  we  are  still  so 
far  from  the  continent?'' 

"^Irs.  "Weldon,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  who  passed  his  hand 
over  his  forehead  for  a  moment,  as  if  to  concentrate  his  ideas, 
"  I  do  not  know — I  cannot  explain  this  incredible  delay! 
No!  I  cannot — unless  the  indications  of  the  compass  have 
been  false!  But  that  island  can  only  be  the  Isle  of  Paques, 
because  we  have  been  obliged  to  scud  before  the  wind  to  the 
northeast,  and  we  must  thank  Heaven,  which  has  permitted 
me  to  mark  our  position!  Yes,  it  is  still  two  thousand  miles 
from  the  coast!  I  know,  at  last,  where  the  tempest  has  blown 
us,  and,  if  it  abates,  we  shall  be  able  to  land  on  the  American 
continent  with  some  chance  of.  safety.  Now,  at  least,  our 
ship  is  no  longer  lost  on  the  immensity  of  the  Pacific!" 

This  confidence,  shown  by  the  young  novice,  was  shared  by 
all  those  who  heard  him  speak.  ^Irs.  Weldon,  herself,  gave 
way  to  it.  It  seemed,  indeed,  that  these  poor  people  wore  at 
the  end  of  their  trouljlos,  and  that  the  "  Pilgrim,"  being  to 
the  windward  of  her  port,  had  only  to  wait  for  the  open  sea 
to  enter  it!  'J'he  Isle  of  Pa(|ues — by  its  true  name  Vai-IIon — 
discovered  by  David  in  lOHfj,  visited  by  Cook  and  Laperouse, 
is  situated  27"  south  latitude  and  112°  cast  longitude.  If  the 
schooner  had  been  thus  led  more  than  fifteen  degrees  to  the 


100  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

north,  tliat  was  evidently  due  to  that  tempest  from  tlic  south- 
Most,  before  which  it  liad  been  obliged  to  scud. 

Then  the  '*  nigrim  "  was  still  two  thousand  miles  from  the 
coast.  Jlowever,  under  the  impetus  of  that  wind  which  blew 
like  thunder,  it  must,  in  less  than  ten  days,  reach  some  point 
of  the  coast  of  South  America. 

Hut  could  they  not  hope,  as  the  novice  had  said,  that  the 
weather  Avould  become  more  manageable,  and  that  it  would 
be  jiossible  to  set  some  sail,  "svhen  they  should  make  the  land? 

It  Avas  still  Dick  Sand's  hope,  lie  said  to  himself  that  this 
hurricane,  Avhich  had  lasted  so  many  days,  would  end  per- 
haps by  "killing  itself."  And  now  that,  thanks  to  the 
a])pearance  of  the  Isle  of  Paques,  he  knew  exactly  his  po- 
sition, he  had  reason  to  believe  that,  once  master  of  his  vessel 
again,  he  would  know  liow  to  lead  her  to  a  safe  place. 

Yes!  to  have  had  knowledge  of  that  isolated  point  in  the 
middle  of  the  sea,  as  by  a  providential  favor,  that  had  restored 
conlulence  to  Dick  Sand;  if  he  was  going  all  the  time  at  the 
caprice  of  a  hurricane,  Avhich  he  could  not  subdue,  at  least, 
he  was  no  longer  going  quite  blindfold. 

Besides,  the  ''  Pilgrim,"  well-built  and  rigged,  had  suffered 
little  during  those  rude  attacks  of  the  tempest.  Her  damages 
reduced  themselves  to  the  loss  of  the  top-sail  and  the  foretop- 
mast  stay-sail — a  loss  which  it  would  be  easy  to  repair.  Not  a 
drop  of  water  had  penetrated  through  the  well-stanched 
seams  of  the  hull  and  the  deck.  The  pumps  were  perfectly 
free.     In  this  respect  there  was  nothing  to  fear. 

There  was,  then,  this  interminable  hurricane,  Avhose  fury 
nothing  seemed  able  to  moderate.  If,  in  a  certain  measure, 
Dick  Sand  could  put  his  ship  in  a  condition  to  struggle 
against  the  violent  storm,  he  could  not  order  that  wind  to 
moderate,  those  waves  to  be  still,  that  sky  to  become  serene 
again.  On  board,  if  he  was  "  master  after  God,"  outside  the 
siiip,  God  alone  commanded  the  winds  and  the  waves. 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   riFTEEX.  101 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

laxdI  land! 

Meax""^HILE.  that  confidence  with  -^hich  Dick  Sand's  heart 
filled  instinctively,  was  going  to  be  partly  justified. 

The  next  day.  March  ;^Tth,  the  column  of  mercury  rose  in 
the  barometrical  tube.  The  oscillation  Avas  neither  sudden 
nor  considerable — a  few  lines  only — but  the  progression 
seemed  likely  to  continue.  The  tempest  was  evidently  going 
to  enter  its  decreasing  period,  and,  if  the  sea  did  remain  ex- 
cessively rough,  they  could  tell  that  the  wind  was  going  down, 
veering  slightly  to  the  west. 

Dick  Sand  "^could  not  yet  think  of  using  any  sail.  The 
smallest  sail  would  be  carried  away.  However,  he  hoped  that 
twenty-four  hours  would  not  elapse  before  it  would  be  possi- 
ble for  him  to  rig  a  storm-jib. 

During  the  night,  in  fact,  the  wind  Avent  down  quite 
noticeably,  if  they  compared  it  to  what  it  had  been  till  then. 
and  the  ship  was'less  tossed  by  those  violent  rollings  which 
had  threatened  to  break  her  in  pieces. 

The  passengers  began  to  appear  on  deck  again.  They  no 
longer  ran  the  risk  of  being  carried  away  by  some  surge  from 
the  sea. 

Mrs.  Weldon  was  the  first  to  leave  the  hatchway  where 
Dick  Sand,  from  prudent  motives,  had  obliged  them  to  shut 
themselves  up  during  the  Avhole  duration  of  that  long  tem- 
T)est.  She  came  to  talk  with  the  novice,  whom  a  truly  su]ier- 
liuman  Avill  had  rendered  capable  of  resisting  so  much  fatigue. 
Tliin,  pale  under  his  sunburnt  complexion,  he  might  avcU  be 
Aveakened  by  the  loss  of  that  sleep  so  necessary  at  his  age. 
No,  his  valiant  nature  resisted  everything.  Perhaps  he  Avould 
pay  dearly  some  day  for  that  period  of  trial.  But  that  Avas 
not  the  moment  to  allow  himself  to  be  cast  down.  Dick 
Sand  liad  said  all  that  to  himself.  Mrs.  AVeldon  found  him 
as  energetic  as  he  had  ever  l>een. 

And  then  he  had  conlidence,  that  brave  Sand,  and  if  con- 
rid(  nee  does  not  command  itself,  at  least  it  commands. 

"  Dick,  my  dear  child,  my  ca])tain,"  said  ]\lrs.  AVeldon, 
holding  out  licr  hand  to  the  young  novice. 

"  Ah  I  Mrs.  Weldon,"  exclaimed  Dick  Sand,  sniiling,  "you 


102  A   CAPTAIN    AT  FIFTEEN. 

disobey'  your  captain.  You  return  ou  deck,  you  leave  your 
cabin  in  spite  of  liis — prayers." 

"  Yes,  I  disobey  you,"'  replied  Mrs.  Weldon;  "but  I  have, 
as  it  were,  a  })rescn*tinicnt  that  the  tempest  is  going  down  or 
is  going  to  become  calm." 

*'  It  is  becoming  calm,  in  fact,  Mrs.  AVeldon,"  replied  the 
novice.  **You  are  not  mistaken.  The  barometer  has  not 
fallen  since  yesterday.  The  wind  has  moderated,  and  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  our  hardest  trials  are  over." 

"  Heaven  hears  you,  Dick.  Ah!  you  have  suffered  much, 
mv  poor  child!     You  have  done  there " 

'''Only  my  duty,  Mrs.  W-eldon." 

**  But  at  last  will  you  bo  able  to  take  some  rest?" 

**  Rest!"  replied  the  novice;  "I  have  no  need  of  rest,  Mrs. 
"Weldon.  I  am  well,  thank  God,  and  it  is  necessary  for  me  to 
keep  up  to  the  end.  You  have  called  me  captain,  and  I  shall 
remain  captain  till  the  moment  when  all  the  '  Pilgrim's '  pas- 
sengers shall  be  in  safety." 

"Dick,"  returned  Mrs.  Weldon,  "my  husband  and  I,  we 
shall  never  forget  what  von  have  just  done." 

"  God  has  done  all,"  replied  Dick  Sand;  " all!" 

**  My  child,  I  repeat  it,  that  by  your  moral  and  physical 
energy,  you  have  shown  yourself  a  man — a  man  lit  to  com- 
mand, and  before  long,  as  soon  as  your  studies  are  fniished— 
my  husband  will  not  contradict  me — you  will  command  for 
the  house  of  James  W.  Weldon!" 

"  I — I "  exclaimed  Dick  Sand,  whose  eyes  filled  with 

tears. 

"Dick,"  replied  Mrs.  AYeldon,  "you  are  already  our  child 
by  adoption,  and  now,  vou  are  our  son,  the  deliverer  of  your 
mother,  and  of  your  little  brother  Jack.  My  dear  Dick,  I 
embrace  you  for  my  husband  and  for  myself!" 

The  courageous  woman  did  not  wish  to  give  way  while 
clasping  the  young  novice  in  her  arms,  but  her  heart  over- 
flowed. As  to  Dick  Sand's  feelings,  what  pen  could  do  them 
justice?  He  asked  himself  if  he  could  not  do  more  than  give  his 
life  for  his  benefactors,  and  he  accepted  in  advance  all  the 
trials  which  might  come  upon  him  in  the  future. 

After  this  conversation  Dick  Sand  felt  stronger.  If  the 
wind  should  become  so  moderate  that  he  should  be  able  to 
hoist  some  canvas,  he  did  not  doubt  being  able  to  steer  his 
ship  to  a  port  where  all  those  which  it  carried  would  at  last 
be  in  safety. 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN".  103 

On  the  29th,  the  wind  having  moderated  a  little,  Dick  Sand 
thousfht  of  setting  the  foresail  and  the  top-sail,  consequently 
to  increase  tlie  sj^eed  of  the  "Pilgrim"  while  directing  her 
course. 

"  Come,  Tom;  come,  my  friends!"  cried  he,  when  he  went 
on  deck  at  daybreak;  *'  come,  T  need  your  arms!" 

"  We  are  ready,  Captain  Sand,"  replied  old  Tom. 

"Ready  for  everything,"  added  Hercules.  "There  was 
nothing  to  do  during  that  tempest,  and  I  begin  to  grow  rusty." 

"  You  should  have  blown  with  your  big  mouth,"  said  little 
Jack;  "  I  bet  you  would  have  been  as  strong  as  the  wind!" 

"  That  is  an  idea,  Jack,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  laughing. 
"  "When  there  is  a  calm  we  shall  make  Hercules  blow  on  the 
sails." 

"  At  your  service.  Mister  Dick!"  replied  the  brave  black, 
inflating  his  cheeks  like  a  gigantic  Boreas. 

"Xow,  my  friends,"  continued  the  novice,  "we  are  to  be- 
gin by  binding  a  ppare  sail  to  the  yard,  because  our  top-sail 
was  carried  away  in  the  hurricane.  It  will  be  difficult,  per- 
haps, but  it  must  be  done." 

"It  shall  be  done!"  replied  Acteon. 

"  Can  I  help  you?"  asked  little  Jack,  always  ready  to  work. 

"Yes,  my  Jack,"  replied  the  novice.  "Y'ou  will  take 
your  place  at  the  wheel,  with  our  friend  Bat,  and  you  Avill 
help  him  to  steer." 

If  Httle  Jack  was  proud  of  being  assistant  helmsman  on 
the  "  Pilgrim,"  it  is  superfluous  to  say  so. 

"Now  to  work,"  continued  Dick  Sand,  "and  we  must  ex- 
pose ourselves  as  little  as  possible." 

The  blacks,  guided  by  the  novice,  went  to  work  at  once. 
To  fasten  a  to])-sail  to  its  yard  presented  some  difficulties  for 
Tom  and  his  companions.  "  First  the  rolled  up  sail  must  be 
hoisted,  then  fastened  to  the  yard. 

However,  Dick  Sand  commanded  so  well,  and  was  so  well 
obeyed,  that  after  an  hour's  work  the  sail  was  fastened  to  its 
yard,  the  yard  iioisted,  and  the  top-sail  properly  set  Avith  two 
reefs. 

As  to  the  foresail  and  the  second  jib,  whidi  hud  been 
furled  before  the  lenii)est,  those  sails  were  set  without  a  great 
deal  of  trouble,  in  sjiite  of  the  force  of  tlie  wind. 

At  last,  on  that  day,  at  ten  o'clock  in  tin'  morning,  the 
"  Pilgrini  "  was  sailing  under  her  foresail,  iier  top-sail,  and 
her  jib. 


104  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

Dirk  Sand  liiul  not  jn(1.2^od  it  prudent  to  set  more  sail. 
The  canvas  whicli  lie  carried  ought  to  assure  him,  as  lonj^  as 
the  wind  did  not  moderate,  a  sjx'ed  of  at  least  two  hundred 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  he  did  not  need  any  greater 
to  reach  the  American  coast  before  ten  days. 

Tlie  novice  was  indeed  satisfied  when,  returning  to  the 
wlieel,  he  again  took  his  post,  after  tlumking  Master  Jack, 
assistant  helmsman  of  the  "Pilgrim."  He  Avas  no  longer  at 
the  mercy  of  the  waves.  He  was  making  headway.  His  joy 
will  1)0  understood  by  all  those  who  are  somewhat  familiar 
with  the  things  of  the  sea. 

The  next  day  the  clouds  still  ran  with  the  same  velocity, 
but  tliey  left  large  openings  between  them,  through  which 
the  rays  of  the  sun  made  their  way  to  the  surface  of  the 
waters.  The  "  Pilgrim"  was  at  times  overspread  with  them. 
A  good  thing  is  that  vivifying  light!  Sometimes  it  was  ex- 
tinguished behind  a  large  mass  of  vapors  which  came  up  in 
the  east,  then  it  reappeared,  to  disappear  again,  but  the 
weather  was  becoming  line  again. 

The  scuttles  had  been  opened  to  ventilate  the  interior  of 
the  ship.  A  salubrious  air  penetrated  the  hold,  the  rear 
hatchway,  the  crew's  quarters.  They  put  the  wet  sails  to 
dry,  stretching  them  out  in  the  sun.  The  deck  was  also 
cleaned.  Dick  Sand  did  not  wish  his  ship  to  arrive  in  port 
Avithout  having  made  a  bit  of  toilet.  Without  overworking 
the  crew,  a  few  hours  sjoent  each  day  at  that  work  would 
Itring  it  to  a  good  end. 

Tiiough  the  novice  could  no  longer  throw  the  log,  he  was 
so  accustomed  to  estimating  the  headway  of  a  ship  that  he 
could  take  a  close  account  of  her  speed.  He  had  then  no 
doubt  of  reaching  land  before  seven  days,  and  he  gave  that 
opinion  to  Mrs.  Weldon,  after  showing  her,  on  the  chart,  the 
j)robable  position  of  the  ship. 

"  Weil,  at  what  point  of  the  coast  ahall  we  arrive,  my  dear 
Dick?"  she  asked  him. 

"Here,  !Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  the  novice,  indicating  that 
long  coast  line  which  extends  from  Peru  to  Chili.  "  I  do  not 
know  how  to  bo  more  exact.  Here  is  the  Isle  of  Paques, 
that  we  have  left  behind  in  the  west,  and,  by  the  direction  of 
the  wind,  which  has  been  constant,  I  conclude  that  we  shall 
reach  land  in  the  east.  Ports  are  quite  numerous  on  that 
coast,  but  to  name  the  one  we  ghall  have  in  view  when  wo 
make  the  land,  is  impossible  at  this  moment." 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN".  105 

*'  Well,  Dick,  wliicliever  it  may  be,  that  port  will  be  wel- 
come." 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Weldon,  and  you  Avill  certainly  find  there  the 
means  to  return  promptly  to  San  Francisco,  The  Pacific 
Xavigation  Com])any  has  a  very  well  organized  service  on 
this  coast.  Its  steamers  touch  at  the  principal  points  of  the 
coast;  nothing  will  be  easier  than  to  take  passage  for  Cali- 
fornia." 

"  Then  you  do  not  count  on  bringing  the  '  Pilgrim '  to  San 
Francisco.^""  asked  ]\Irs.  Weld  on. 

"Yes,  after  having  put  you  on  shore,  Mrs.  Weldon.  If 
we  can  procure  an  officer  and  a  crew,  we  are  going  to  dis- 
charge our  cargo  at  Valparaiso,  as  Captain  Hull  would  have 
done.  Then  we  shall  return  to  our  own  port.  But  that 
would  delay  you  too  much,  and,  though  very  sorry  to  be 
separated  from  you " 

''Well,  Dick,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "we  shall  see  later 
what  must  be  done.  Tell  me,  you  seem  to  fear  the  dangers 
which  the  land  presents." 

"  In  fact,  they  are  to  be  feared,"  replied  the  novice,  "  but 
I  am  always  hoping  to  meet  some  ship  in  these  parts,  and  I 
am  even  very  much  surprised  at  not  seeing  any.  If  only  one 
should  pass,  Ave  would  enter  into  communication  with  her; 
she  would  give  us  our  exact  situation,  which  would  greatly 
facilitate  our  arrival  in  sight  of  land." 

"  Are  there  not  pilots  who  do  service  along  this  coast?" 
asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"There  ouglit  to  be,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "but  much 
nearer  land.      We  must  then  continue  to  approach  it." 

"And  if  we  do  not  meet  a  pilot?"  asked  !Mrs.  Weldon, 
wlio  kept  on  questioning  liim  in  order  to  know  how  the  young 
novice  would  prepare  for  all  contingencies. 

"In  that  case,  Mrs.  Weldon,  eitlier  the  weather  will  be 
clear,  the  wind  moderate,  and  I  shall  endeavor  to  sail  uj)  the 
coast  sufficiently  near  to  find  a  refuge,  or  the  wind  will  be 
stronger,  and  then " 

"'ilicn  what  will  you  do,  Dick?" 

"Tiien,  in  the  present  condition  of  the  '  Pilgrim,' "  re- 
l)liod  Di(;k  Sand,  "once  near  the  land,  it  will  be  very  difficult 
to  set  off  again." 

"  What  will  you  do?"  repeated  Mrs.  A\'eldon. 

"  I  shall  be  foreed  to  run  my  ship  aground,"  re])lied  the 
novice,  whose  lo-ow  darkened    for  a    moineiit.      "Ahl  it  is  a 


lOG  \   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

hard  extremity.  God  grant  tluit  we  may  not  bo  reduced  lo 
that.  But,  I  repeat  it,  Mrs.  A\'eld()n,  tlie  appearance  of  tlio 
sky  is  reassuring,  and  it  is  impossible  for  a  vessel  or  a  pilot- 
boat  not  to  meet  us.  Then,  good  liope.  We  are  lieaded  I'or 
the  land,  we  shall  see  it  before  long." 

Yes,  to  run  a  ship  aground  is  a  last  extremity,  to  which 
the  most  energetic  sailor  does  not  resort  without  fear!  Thus, 
Dick  Sand  did  not  wish  to  foresee  it,  while  he  had  some 
chances  of  escaping  it. 

For  several  days  there  were,  in  the  state  of  the  atmosj)here, 
alternatives  Avhich,  anew,  made  the  novice  very  uneasy.  The 
wind  kept  in  the  condition  of  a  stiff  breeze  all  the  time,  and 
certain  oscillations  of  the  barometrical  column  indicated  that 
it  tended  to  freshen.  Dick  Hand  then  asked  himself,  not 
without  apprehension,  if  he  Avould  be  again  forced  to  scud 
without  sails,  lie  had  so  much  interest  in  keeping  at  least 
liis  top-sail,  that  he  resolved  to  do  so  so  long  as  it  Avas  not 
likely  to  be  carried  away.  But,  to  secure  the  solidity  of  the 
masts,  he  liad  the  shrouds  and  backstays  luiuled  taut. 
Above  all,  all  unnecessary  risk  must  be  avoided,  as  the  situa- 
tion would  become  one  of  the  gravest,  if  the  "  Pilgrim " 
should  be  disabled  by  losing  her  masts. 

Once  or  twice,  also,  the  barometer  rising,  gave  reason  to 
fear  that  the  wind  might  change  point  for  point;  that  is  to 
say,  that  it  might  pass  to  the  east.  It  would  then  be  neces- 
sary to  sail  close  to  the  wind! 

A  new  anxiety  for  Dick  Sand.  "What  should  he  do  with  a 
contrary  wind?  Tack  about?  But  if  he  was  obliged  to  come 
to  that,  what  new  delays  and  what  risks  of  being  thrown  into 
the  oflRng. 

IIa])pily  those  fears  were  not  realized.  The  M'ind,  after 
shifting  for  several  days,  blowing  sometimes  from  the  north, 
sometimes  from  the  south,  settled  definitely  in  the  west.  But 
it  was  always  a  strong  Ijreeze,  almost  a  gale,  which  strained 
tlie  masting. 

It  was  the  5th  of  April.  So,  then,  more  than  two  months 
had  already  elapsed  since  the  "  Pilgrim  "  had  left  Kew  Zea- 
land. For  twenty  days  a  contrary  wind  and  long  calms  had 
retarded  her  course.  Then  she  Avas  in  a  favorable  condition 
to  reach  land  rapidly.  Her  speed  must  even  have  been  very 
considerable  during  the  tempest.  Dick  Sand  estimated  its 
average  at  not  less  than  two  hundred  miles  a  day!    How, 


LITTLE  JACK  AWOKE  AND  PUT  HI8  ARMS  AROUNU  HIS  MOTHER'S  NECK.— -S«e  ;>«(/«  190. 


A    CAPTATX    AT   PIFTEEX.  107 

then,  had  he  not  yet  made  the  coast?  Did  it  flee  before  the 
"  Pilgi-im?"     It  was  absolutely  inexplicable. 

And,  nevertheless,  no  land  was  signaled,  though  one  of  the 
blacks  kept  watch  constantly  in  the  cross-bars. 

Dick  Sand  often  ascended  there  himself.  There,  with  a 
telescope  to  his  eyes,  he  sought  to  discover  some  appearance 
of  mountains.  The  Andes  chain  is  very  high.  It  was  tliere 
in  the  zone  of  the  clouds  that  he  must  seek  some  peak, 
emerging  from  the  vapors  of  the  horizon. 

Several  times  Tom  and  his  companions  were  deceived  by 
false  indications  of  land.  They  were  only  vapors  of  an  odd 
form,  which  rose  in  the  background.  It  happened  sometimes 
that  these  honest  men  were  obstinate  in  their  belief;  but, 
after  a  certain  time,  they  were  forced  to  acknowledge  that 
they  had  been  dupes  of  an  optical  illusion.  The  pretended 
land,  moved  away,  changed  form  and  finished  by  disappear- 
ing completely. 

On  the  6th  of  April  there  was  no  longer  any  doubt  possible. 

It  was  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Dick  Sand  had  just 
ascended  into  the  bars.  At  that  moment  the  fogs  were  con- 
densed under  the  first  rays  of  the  sun,  and  the  horizon  was 
pretty  clearly  defined. 

From  Dick  Sand's  lips  escaped  at  last  the  so  long  expected 
cry: 

"Land!  land  before  usi" 

At  that  cry  every  one  ran  on  deck,  little  Jack,  curious  as 
folks  are  at  that  age,  Mrs.  AVeldon,  whose  trials  were  going 
tc  cease  with  the  landing,  Tom  and  his  companions,  who 
were  at  last  going  to  set  foot  again  on  the  American  conti- 
nent. Cousin  Benedict  liimself,  who  had  great  hope  of  pick- 
ing up  quite  a  rich  collection  of  new  insects  for  himself. 

Negoro,  alone,  did  not  ajipear. 

Each  then  saw  wliat  Dick  Sand  had  scon,  some  very  dis- 
tinctly, others  Avith  the  eyes  of  faith.  P>ut  on  the  part  of  the 
novice,  so  accustomed  to  observe  sea  horizons,  there  Avas  no 
error  possible,  and  an  hour  after,  it  must  be  allowed  he  Avas 
not  deceived. 

At  a  distance  of  about  f(jur  miles  to  the  east  stretched  a 
rather  low  coast,  or  at  least  Avhat  appeared  such.  It  must  1)0 
comnianded  behind  by  the  high  chain  of  the  Andes,  but  the 
last  zono  of  cloiuls  did  n<jt  alloAv  the  summits  to  be  jierceived. 

Tlie  "  Pilgrim  "  sailed  directly  and  rajiidly  to  this  coast, 
which  grew  larger  to  the  eye. 


108  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

Two  hours  after  it  was  only  tlirco  miles  away. 

This  jiart  of  the  coast  ended  ni  the  nortlicast  by  a  pretty 
hi_<ih  ca])e,  which  covered  a  sort  of  roadstead  protected  from 
land  winds.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  southeast,  it  lengthened 
out  like  a  thin  peninsula. 

A  few  trees  crowned  a  succession  of  low  cliffs,  -which  were 
then  clearly  defined  under  the  sky.  But  it  was  evident,  the 
geo,2:raphical  character  of  the  country  being  given,  that  the 
high  mountain  chain  of  the  Andes  formed  their  background. 

iMoreover,  no  habitation  in  sight,  no  port,  no  river  mouth, 
which  might  serve  as  a  harbor  for  a  vessel. 

At  that  moment  the  "Pilgrim  "  was  running  right  on  the 
land.  With  the  reduced  sail  which  she  carried,  the  winds 
driving  her  to  the  coast,  Dick  Sand  would  not  be  able  to  set 
off  from  it. 

In  front  lay  a  long  band  of  reefs,  on  which  the  sea  was 
foaming  all  white.  'Hiey  saw  the  w'aves  unfurl  half  way  up 
the  cliffs.     There  must  be  a  monstrous  surf  there. 

Dick  Sand,  after  remaining  on  the  forecastle  to  observe  the 
coast,  returned  aft,  and,  without  saying  a  Avord,  he  took  the 
helm. 

The  wind  was  freshening  all  the  time.  The  schooner  was 
soon  only  a  mile  from  the  shore. 

Dick  Sand  then  i)erceived  a  sort  of  little  cove,  into  which 
he  resolved  to  steer;  but,  before  reaching  it,  he  must  cross  a 
line  of  reefs,  among  which  it  would  be  difiiicult  to  follow  a 
channel.  The  surf  indicated  that  the  water  was  shallow 
cvei-ywhere. 

At  that  moment  Dingo,  who  was  going  backwards  and  for- 
wards on  the  deck,  dashed  forward,  and,  looking  at  the  laud, 
gave  some  lamentable  barks.  One  would  say  that  the  dog 
recognized  the  coast,  and.  that  its  instinct  recalled  some  sad 
rememlirance. 

Xegoro  must  liave  heard  it,  for  an  irresistible  sentiment  led 
him  out  of  his  cabin;  and  although  he  had  reason  to  fear  the 
dog,  he  came  almost  immediately  to  lean  on  the  netting. 

Very  fortunately  for  him  Dingo,  Avhose  sad  barks  were  all 
the  time  being  addressed  to  that  land,  did  not  perceive  him. 

Xegoro  looked  at  that  furious  surf,  and  that  did  not  ap- 
pear to  frighten  him.  Mrs.  Weldon,  who  was  looking  at  him, 
thought  she  saw  his  face  redden  a  little,  and  that  for  an  in- 
stant his  features  were  contracted. 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  109 

Then,  did  Xegovo  know  this  point  of  the  continent  where 
the  winds  were  driving  the  "Pilgrim?" 

At  that  moment  Dick  Sand  left  tlie  wheel,  which  he  gave 
back  to  old  Tom.  For  a  last  time  he  came  to  look  at  the 
cove,  which  gradually  opened.     Then: 

*'  Mrs.  Weldon,"  said  he,  in  a  firm  voice,  "  I  have  no  longer 
any  hope  of  finding  a  harbor!  Before  half  an  hour,  in  spite 
of  all  my  efforts,  tlie  '*  Pilgrim"  Avill  be  on  the  reefs!  "We 
must  run  aground!  I  shall  not  bring  the  ship  into  port!  I 
am  forced  to  lose  her  to  save  you !  But,  between  your  safety 
and  hers,  I  do  not  hesitate!" 

'•'You  have  done  all  that  depended  on  you,  Dick?"  asked 
Mrs.  AVeldon. 

"  All,"  replied  the  young  novice. 

And  at  once  he  made  his  preparations  for  stranding  the 
ship. 

First  of  all,  Mrs.  "Weldon,  Jack,  Cousin  Benedict  and  Nan, 
must  put  on  life-preservers.  Dick  Sand,  Tom  and  the  blacks, 
good  swimmers,  also  took  measures  to  gain  the  coast,  in  case 
they  should  be  precipitated  into  the  sea. 

Hercules  would  take  charge  of  Mrs.  Wcldon.  The  novice 
took  little  Jack  under  his  care. 

Cousin  Benedict,  very  tranquil,  however,  reappeared  on  the 
deck  with  his  entomologist  box  strapped  to  his  shoulder. 
The  novice  commended  him  to  Bat  and  Austin.  As  to 
Negoro,  his  singular  calmness  said  jilainly  enough  that  he  had 
no  need  of  anybody's  aid. 

Dick  Sand,  by  a  sui)rcme  precaution,  had  also  brought  on 
the  forecastle  ten  barrels  of  the  cargo  containing  whale's  oil. 

That  oil,  properly  i)ourcd  the  moment  the  '*'  Pilgrim " 
would  be  in  the  surf,  ought  to  calm  tlie  sea  for  an  instant,  in 
luljricating,  so  to  say,  the  molecules  of  water,  and  that  oj^era- 
ti(jn  would  perl!a))s  facilitate  the  ship's  passage  between  the 
reefs.  Dick  Sand  did  not  wish  to  neglect  anything  which 
might  secure  the  common  safety. 

All  these  ])recautions  taken,  the  novice  returned  to  take  his 
jilace  at  the  wheel. 

The  "  Pilgrim  "  was  only  two  cables'  length  from  the  coast, 
that  is,  almost  touching  the  reefs,  her  starl)oard  side  ahvady 
Ijathcd  ill  tlie  wliite  foam  of  the  surf,  Eacii  moment  the 
iiovico  thouglit  that  the  vessel's  keel  was  going  to  strike  some 
lockv  bottom. 


110  A    CAITAIN    AT    FIFTKEN. 

Suddenly,  Dick  Sand  know,  by  a  change  in  the  color  of  the 
water,  tluit  a  clianncl  lengthened  out  among  the  reefs.  lie 
must  enter  it  bravely  witliout  hesitating,  so  as  to  make  the 
coast  as  near  as  possible  to  the  shore. 

The  novice  did  not  hesitate.  A  movement  of  the  helm 
thrust  the  ship  into  the  narrow  and  sinuous  channel.  In  this 
]ilace  the  sea  was  still  more  furious,  and  the  waves  dashed  on 
the  deck. 

The  blacks  were  posted  forward,  near  the  barrels,  waiting 
for  the  novice's  orders. 

"■  Pour  the  oil — pour!"  exclaimed  Dick  Sand. 

Under  this  oil,  which  was  poured  on  it  in  quantities,  the 
sea  grew  calm,  as  by  enchantment,  only  to  become  more  terri- 
ble again  a  moment  after. 

The  "  Pilgrim  "  glided  rapidly  over  those  lubricated  waters 
and  headed  straight  for  the  shore. 

Suddenly  a  shock  took  place.  The  ship,  lifted  by  a  for- 
midable wave,  had  just  stranded,  and  her  masting  had  fallen 
without  wounding  anybody. 

The  "Pilgrim's"  hull,  damaged  by  the  collision,  was 
invaded  by  the  water  with  extrcm.c  violence.  But  the  shore 
was  only  half  a  cable's  length  off,  and  a  chain  of  small  black- 
ish rocks  enabled  it  to  be  reached  quite  easily. 

So,  ten  minutes  after,  all  those  carried  by  the  "  Pilgrim  " 
had  landed  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE     BEST    TO     DO. 

So  then,  after  a  voyage  long  delayed  by  calms,  then  favored 
by  winds  from  the  northwest  and  from  the  southwest — a  voy- 
age which  had  not  lasted  less  than  seventy-four  days — the 
"  Pilgrim"  had  just  run  aground! 

However,  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  companions  thanked  Provi- 
dence, because  they  were  in  safety.  In  fact,  it  was  on  a  con- 
tinent, and  not  on  one  of  the  fatal  isles  of  Polynesia,  that  the 
tempest  had  thrown  them.  Their  return  to  their  country, 
from,  any  point  of  South  America  on  which  they  should  land, 
ought  not,  it  seemed,  to  present  serious  difficulties. 

As  to  the  "  Pilgrim,"  she  was  lost.  She  was  only  a  carcass 
without  value,  of  which  the  surf  was  going  to  disperse  the 


A   CAPTAIN"   AT   FIFTEEN".  HI 

debris  in  a  few  hours.  It  would  be  impossible  to  save  any- 
thing. But  if  Dick  Sand  had  not  that  joy  of  bringing  back 
a  vessel  intact  to  his  ship-owner,  at  least,  thanks  to  him,  those 
who  sailed  in  her  were  safe  and  sound  on  some  hospitable 
coast,  and,  among  them,  the  wife  and  child  of  James  W. 
Weldon. 

As  to  the  question  of  knowing  on  what  part  of  the  Ameri- 
can coast  the  schooner  had  been  wrecked,  they  might  dispute 
it  for  a  long  time.  AVas  it,  as  Dick  Sand  must  suppose,  on 
the  shore  of  Peru?  Perhaps,  for  he  knew,  even  by  the  bear- 
ings of  the  Isle  of  Paques,  that  the  "  Pilgrim  "  had  been 
thrown  to  the  northeast  under  the  action  of  the  winds;  and 
also,  without  douljt,  under  the  influence  of  the  currents  of 
the  equatorial  zone.  From  the  forty-third  degree  of  latitude, 
it  had,  indeed,  been  possible  to  drift  to  the  fifteenth. 

It  was  then  important  to  determine,  as  soon  as  possible,  the 
precise  point  of  the  coast  where  the  schooner  had  just  been  lost. 
Granted  that  this  coast  was  that  of  Peru,  ports,  towns  and 
villages  were  not  lacking,  and  consequently  it  would  be  easy 
to  gain  some  inhabited  place.  As  to  this  part  of  the  coast,  it 
seemed  deserted. 

It  was  a  narrow  beach,  strewed  with  black  rocks,  ehut  off 
by  a  cliff  of  medium  height,  verry  irregularly  cut  up  Ijy  largo 
funnels,  due  to  the  rupture  of  the  rock.  Here  and  there  a 
few  gentle  declivities  gave  access  to  its  crest. 

In  the  north,  at  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  stranding 
place,  was  the  mouth  of  a  little  river,  which  could  not  have 
been  perceived  from  the  offing.  On  its  banks  hung  numerous 
rhizomas,  sorts  of  mangroves,  essentially  distinct  i'rom  their 
congeners  of  India. 

The  crest  of  the  cliff — that  was  soon  discovered — was  over- 
hung by  a  thick  forest,  whose  verdant  masses  undulated  be- 
fore the  eyes,  and  extended  as  far  as  the  mountains  in  the 
background.  There,  if  Cousin  P>cnedict  had  been  a  botanist, 
how  many  trees,  new  to  him,  would  not  have  failed  to  provoke 
his  afhniration. 

'J'licre  were  high  baolxibs — to  which,  however,  an  extraor- 
dinary longevity  has  ])een  falsely  attributed — the  l)ark  of 
which  resembles  Egyptian  syenfte,  Bourbon  palms,  white 
])ines,  tamarind-trees,  pejiper-plants  of  a  ])eculiar  species,  and 
a  Ijundred  other  plants  that  an  American  is  not  accustomed 
to  see  in  the  norflieiTi  region  of  tlie  New  Continent. 


11  "3  A    CAl'TAIN    AT   VIFTEEX. 

l^ut.  a  c'iivunistance  rather  curious,  among  those  forest 
)>ro(hK'lions  cue  would  not  meet  a  single  specimen  of  that 
numerous  family  of  i)alm-trces  which  counts  more  than  a 
thousand  sjiecies,  spread  in  profusion  over  almost  the  whole 
surface  of  the  glohe. 

Above  the  sea-shore  a  great  number  of  very  noisy  birds 
were  tlying,  which  belonged  for  the  greater  part  to  different 
varieties  of  swallows,  of  black  plumage,  with  a  steel-blue 
sliade,  but  of  a  light  chestnut  color  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
head.  Here  and  there  also  rose  some  jmrtridges,  with  necks 
entirely  white,  and  of  a  gray  color. 

Mrs.  AVeldon  and  Dick  Sand  observed  that  these  different 
birds  did  not  appear  to  be  at  all  wild.  They  approached 
without  fearing  anything.  Then,  had  they  not  yet  learned 
to  fear  the  presence  of  man,  and  was  this  coast  so  deserted 
that  the  detonation  of  a  fire-arm  had  never  been  heard  there? 

At  the  edge  of  the  rocks  were  walking  some  pelicans  of  the 
species  of  "pelican  minor,"  occupied  in  filling  Avith  little  fish 
the  sack  which  they  carry  between  the  branches  of  their 
lower  jaw.  Some  gulls,  coming  from  the  offing,  commenced 
to  fly  about  around  the  '*  Pilgrim." 

Those  birds  were  the  only  living  creatures  that  seemed  to 
frequent  this  part  of  the  coast,  without  counting,  indeed, 
numbers  of  interesting  insects  that  Cousin  Benedict  would 
well  know  how  to  discover.  But,  however  little  Jack  would 
have  it,  one  could  not  ask  them  the  name  of  the  country;  in 
order  to  learn  it,  it  would  be  necessary  to  address  some 
native.  There  were  none  there,  or,  at  least,  there  was  not 
one  to  be  seen.  No  habitation,  hut,  or  cabin,  neither  in  the 
north,  beyond  the  little  river,  nor  in  the  south,  nor  finally  on 
the  upper  j)art  of  the  clilT,  in  the  midst  of  the  trees  of  the 
thick  forest.  No  smoke  ascended  into  the  air,  no  indication, 
mark,  or  imprint  indicated  that  this  j)ortion  of  the  continent 
was  visited  by  human  beings.  Dick  Sand  continued  to  be 
very  much  surprised. 

'•  Where  are  we?  Where  can  we  be?"  he  asked  himself. 
"  What!  nobody  to  speak  to?" 

Nobody,  in  truth,  and  surely,  if  any  native  had  approached, 
Dingo  would  have  scented  him,  and  announced  him  by  a 
bark.  The  dog  went  backward  and  forwai-d  on  the  strand, 
his  nose  to  the  ground,  his  tail  down,  growling  secretly — cer- 
tainly very  singular  behavior — but  neither  betraying  the  ap- 
proach of  man  nor  of  any  animal  whatsoever. 


A   CAPTAIN"   AT   FIFTEEN-.  113 

'•'  Dick,  look  at  Dingo!"  said  Mrs.  "Welclon. 

"Yes,  that  is  very  strange,"  rei^lied  the  novice.  "It 
seems  as  if  he  were  trying  to  recover  a  scent. " 

"Very  strange,  indeed,"  murmured  Mrs.  Weldon;  then, 
continuing,  "  what  is  Xegoro  doing?"  she  asked. 

"  He  isdoing  what  Dingo  is  doing,"  replied  Dick  Sand. 
"He  goes,  he  comes!  After  all,  he  is  free  here.  I  have  no 
longer  the  right  to  control  him.  His  service  ended  with  the 
stranding  of  the  'Pilgrim.'  " 

In  fact,  Negoro  surveyed  the  strand,  turned  back,  and 
looked  at  the  shore  and  the  clifE  like  a  man  trying  to  recall 
recollections  and  to  fix  them.  Did  he,  then,  know  this 
country?  He  would  probably  have  refused  to  reply  to  that 
question  if  it  had  been  asked.  The  best  thing  was  still  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  that  very  unsociable  personage. 
Dick  Sand  soon  saw  him  walk  from  the  side  of  the  little 
river,  and  when  Xegoro  had  disappeared  on  the  other  side  of 
the  cliff,  he  ceased  to  think  of  him. 

Dingo  had  indeed  barked  when  the  cook  had  arrived  on  the 
steep  bank,  but  became  silent  almost  immediately. 

It  was  necessary,  now,  to  consider  the  most  pressing  wants. 
Now,  the  most  pressing  Avas  to  find  a  refuge,  a  shelter  of 
some  kind,  where  they  could  install  themselves  for  the  time, 
and  partake  of  some  nourishment.  Then  they  would  take 
counsel,  and  they  would  decide  what  it  would  be  convenient 
to  do. 

As  to  food,  they  had  not  to  trouble  themselves.  Without 
S])eaking  of  the  resources  which  the  country  must  offer,  the 
ship's  store-room  had  emptied  itself  for  the  benefit  of  the 
survivors  of  the  shipwreck.  The  surf  had  thrown  here  and 
there  among  the  rocks,  then  uncovered  by  the  ebb-tide,  a 
groat  quantity  of  objects.  Tom  and  his  companions  had 
already  picked  up  some  barrels  of  biscuit,  boxes  of  alimentary 
preserves,  cases  of  dried  meat.  The  Avater  not  having  yet 
damaged  them,  food  for  the  little  troop  was  secured  for  more 
time,  doubtless,  than  they  would  rerpiire  to  reach  a  town  or  a 
village.  In  that  respect  there  was  nothing  to  fear.  These 
different  waifs,  already  [)ut  in  a  safe  place,  could  no  longer 
be  taken  l)ack  hy  a  rising  sea. 

Ncitiier  was  sweet  water  lacking.  First  of  all,  Dick  Sand 
had  taken  care  to  send  Hercules  to  the  little  river  for  a  few 

tints.      But  it  was  a  cask  which  the  vigorous  negro  brouglit 
ack  on  his  shoulder,  after  having  filled  it  with   water  fresh 


lit  A    (WPT.VTN'    AT   FIFTEEN. 

and  ])uri\  uliirli  (ho  cl)l)  of  the  tide  loft  perfectly  drinkable. 

As  to  Ji  iire,  if  it  were  necessary  to  li2;lit  one,  dead  wood 
was  not  lacking  in  the  neii^hborhoofl,  and  the  roots  of  the  old 
mangroves  ouglit  to  furnisli  all  the  I'nel  of  which  they  would 
have  need.  Old  Tom.  an  ardent  smoker,  was  provided  with 
a  certain  quantity  of  German  tinder,  well  preserved  in  a  box 
hermetically  closed,  and  when  they  wanted  it,  he  would  only 
have  to  strike  the  tinder-box  with  the  flint  of  the  strand. 

It  remained,  then,  to  discover  the  hole  in  which  the  little 
troop  would  lie  down,  iu  case  they  must  take  one  night's 
rest  before  setting  out. 

And,  indeed,  it  was  little  Jack  who  found  the  bedroom  in 
question.  While  trotting  about  at  the  foot  of  the  cliflf,  he  dis- 
covered, behind  a  turn  of  the  rock,  one  of  those  grottoes  well 
polished,  well  hollowed  out,  which  the  sea  herself  digs,  when 
the  -waves,  enlarged  by  the  tempest,  beat  the  coast. 

The  young  child  was  delighted.  He  called  his  mother  with 
cries  of  joy,  and  triumphantly  showed  her  liis  discovery. 

"Good,  my  Jackl"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon.  "If  we  were 
Iiobinson  Crusoes,  destined  to  live  a  long  time  on  this  shore, 
we  should  not  forget  to  give  your  name  to  that  grotto!" 

The  grotto  -svas  only  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  long,  and  as 
many  wide;  but,  in  little  Jack's  eyes,  it  was  an  enormous 
cavern.  At  all  events,  it  must  sufiice  to  contain  the  ship- 
wrecked ones;  and,  as  Mrs.  ^A'eldon  and  Nan  noted  with  sat- 
isfaction, it  was  very  dry.  The  moon  being  then  in  her  first 
(piarter,  they  need  not  fear  that  those  neap-tides  would  reach 
the  foot  of  the  cliff,  and  the  grotto  in  consequence.  Then, 
nothing  more  was  needed  for  a  few  hours'  rest. 

Ten  minutes  after  everybody  was  stretched  out  on  a  carpet 
of  sea-weed.  Negoro  himself  thought  he  must  rejoin  the  lit- 
tle troop  and  take  his  part  of  the  repast,  which  was  going  to 
be  made  in  common.  Doubtless  he  had  not  judged  it  proper 
to  venture  alone  under  the  thick  forest,  through  which  the 
winding  river  made  its  way. 

It  was  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  preserved  meat, 
the  biscuit,  the  sweet  water,  with  the  addition  of  a  few  drops 
of  rum,  of  which  Bat  had  saved  a  quarter  cask,  made  the  re- 
(juisites  for  this  rejjast.  I'ut  if  Negoro  took  part  in  it,  he  did 
not  at  all  mingle  m  the  couAcrsation,  in  w'hich  were  discussed 
the  measures  dcnianded  by  the  situation  of  the  shipwrecked. 
All  the  time,  wi1lK)nt  a])])earing  to  do  so,  he  listened  to  it, 
and  doubtless  ])rolit'<l  ])y  what  lie  heard. 


A   CAPTAI>'   AT   FIFTEEX.  115 

During  this  time  Dingo,  who  had  not  been  forgotten, 
■R-atched  outside  tlie  grotto.  They  could  be  at  ease.  Xo  liv- 
ing being  Avould  show  himself  on  the  strand  without  the  faith- 
ful animal  giving  the  alarm. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  holding  her  little  Jack,  half  lying  and  almost 
asleep  on  her  lap,  began  to  speak. 

"Dick,  my  friend,"  said  she,  "in  the  name  of  all.  I  thank 
you  for  the  devotion  that  yon  have  shown  us  till  now;  but  we 
do  not  consider  you  free  yet.  You  will  be  our  guide  on  land, 
as  you  were  our  captain  at  sea.  We  place  every  confidence 
in  you.     Speak,  then!     "What  must  we  do?" 

Mrs.  "W'eldon,  old  Xan,  Tom  and  liis  companions,  all  had 
their  eyes  fixed  on  the  young  novice.  Xegoro  himself  looked 
at  him  with  a  singular  p.ersistance.  Evidently,  what  Dick 
Sand  was  going  to  reply  interested  him  very  particularly. 

Dick  Sand  reflected  for  a  few  moments.     Then: 

"Mrs.  Weldon,"  said  he,  "the  important  thing  is  to  know, 
first,  where  we  are.  I  beheve  that  our  ship  can  only  have 
made  the  land  on  that  portion  of  the  American  sea-coast  which 
forms  the  Peruvian  shore.  The  winds  and  currents  must 
liave  carried  her  as  far  as  that  latitude.  But  are  we  here  in 
some  southern  province  of  Pei'u,  that  is  to  say  on  the  least  in- 
habited part  which  borders  upon  the  pampas?  Maybe  so.  I 
would  even  willingly  believe  it,  seeing  this  beach  so  desolate, 
and,  it  must  be,  but  little  frequented.  In  that  case,  we  might 
be  very  far  from  the  nearest  town,  which  would  be  unfortu- 
nate." 

"Well,  what  is  to  be  done?"  repeated  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"My  advice,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "would  be  not  to  leave 
this  shelter  till  we  know  our  situation.  To-morrow,  after  a 
night's  rest,  two  of  us  could  go  to  discover  it.  They  would 
endeavor,  without  going  too  far,  to  meet  some  natives,  to  in- 
form themselves  from  them,  and  return  to  the  grotto.  It  is 
not  possible  that,  in  a  radius  of  ten  or  twelve  miles,  we  find 
nobody." 

"To  separate!"  said  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  That  seems  necessary  to  me,"  re))licd  the  novice.  "If 
no  information  can  lie  jtickcd  up,  if,  as  is  not  impossible,  the 
country  is  absolutely  desolate,  well,  avc  shall  consider  somo 
other  way  of  extricating  ourselves." 

"And  which  of  us  shall  go  to  explore?"  asked  Mrs.  Wel- 
don, after  a  moment's  reficctiijn. 


116  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

'•'  That  is  yot.  to  be  decided,"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "  At  all 
events,  T  think  that  you,  Mrs.  AVeldon,  Jack,  Mr.  Benedict, 
and  >.'an,  ouuht  Jiot  to  quit  this  grotto.  ]iat,  Uercules,  Ac- 
teoii,  and  Austin  should  remain  near  you,  while  Tom  and  I 
should  go  forward.  JSegora,  doubtless,  will  prefer  to  remain 
here?"  added  Dick  Sand,  looking  at  the  head-cook. 

*' Probably."  replied  Negoro,  wlio  was  not  a  man  to  com- 
mit himself  any  more  than  that. 

"  We  should  take  Dingo  with  us,"  continued  the  novice. 
"  He  would  be  useful  to  us  during  our  exploration." 

Dingo,  hearing  his  name  pronounced,  reappeared  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  grotto,  and  seemed  to  approve  of  Dick  Sand's 
projects  by  a  little  bark. 

Since  the  novice  had  made  this  proposition,  Mrs.  "Weldon 
remained  pensive.  Iler  repugnance  to  the  idea  of  a  sepai'a- 
tion,  even  short,  was  very  serious.  Might  it  not  happen  that 
the  shi])wreck  of  the  "  Pilgrim"  would  soon  be  known  to  the 
Indian  tribes  who  frequented  the  sea-shore,  either  to  the  north 
or  to  the  south,  and  in  case  some  })lunderers  of  the  wrecks 
thrown  on  the  shore  should  present  themselves,  w^as  it  not 
better  for  all  to  be  united  to  repulse  them? 

That  objection,  made  to  the  novice's  proposition,  truly  mer- 
ited a  discussion. 

It  fell,  however,  before  Dick  Sand's  arguments,  who  ob- 
served that  the  Indians  ought  not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
savages  of  Africa  or  Polynesia,  and  any  aggression  on  their 
part  was  probably  not  to  be  feared.  But  to  entangle  them- 
selves in  this  country  without  even  knowing  to  what  province 
of  South  America  it  belonged,  nor  at  what  distance  the  near- 
est town  of  that  province  was  situated,  was  to  expose  them- 
selves to  many  fatigues.  Doubtless  separation  might  have  its 
inconveniences,  but  far  less  than  marching  blindly  into  the 
midst  of  a  forest  which  ajipcared  to  stretch  as  far  as  the  base 
of  the  mountains. 

"  i^esidcs."  repeated  Dick  Sand,  ])orsistently,  ''I  cannot 
admit  that  this  separation  will  be  of  long  duration,  and  I  even 
atiirm  that  it  will  not  be  so.  After  two  days,  at  the  most,  if 
Tom  and  I  have  come  across  neither  habitation  nor  inhab- 
itant, we  shall  return  to  the  grotto.  But  that  is  too  improb- 
able, and  we  shall  not  liave  advanced  twenty  miles  into  the 
interior  of  the  country  before  we  shall  evidently  be  satisfied 
about  its  geographical  situation.  I  may  be  mistaken  in  my^ 
calculation,  after  all,  because  the  means  of  fixing  it  astro- 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN?".  117 

nomically  have  failed  me,  aud  it  is  not  impossible  for  us  to  be 
in  a  higher  or  lower  latitude." 

f' Yes— you  are  certainly  right,  my  child,"  replied  Mrs. 
Weldon,  in  great  anxiety. 

''And  you,  Mr.  Benedict,"  asked  Dick  Sand,  ''what  do 
you  think  of  this  project?" 

"I?"  replied  Cousin  Benedict. 

"Yes;  what  is  your  advice?" 

"  I  have  no  adVice."  replied  Cousin  Benedict.  "  I  find 
everything  proposed,  good,  and  I  shall  do  everything  that  you 
wish.  Do  you  wish  to  remain  here  one  day  or  two?  that  suits 
me,  and  I  shall  employ  my  time  in  studying  this  shore  from  a 
purely  entomological  point  of  view." 

"  Do,  then,  according  to  your  wish,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon  to 
Dick  Sand.  "  We  shall  remain  here,  and  you  shall  depart 
with  old  Tom." 

"  That  is  agreed  upon,"  said  Cousin  Benedict,  in  the  most 
tranquil  manner  in  the  world.  "As  for  mo,  I  am  going  to 
pav  a  visit  to  the  insects  of  the  country." 

"'"  Do  not  go  far  away,  Mr.  Benedict,"  said  the  novice. 
"  We  urge  you  strongly  not  to  do  it." 

"  Do  not  be  uneasy,  my  boy." 

"  And  above  all,  do  not  bring  ])ack  too  many  rausquitoes," 
added  old  Tom. 

A  few  moments  after,  the  entomologist,  his  precious  tin 
box  strapped  to  his  shoulders,  left  the  grotto. 

Almost  at  the  same  time  Xegoro  abandoned  it  also.     It  ap- 

S eared  quite  natural  to  that  man  to  be  always  occupied  witli 
imself.  But,  while  Cousin  Benedict  clambered  up  the  slopes 
of  the  cliff  to  go  to  exi)lorc  the  border  of  the  forest,  he,  turn- 
ing round  toward  the  river,  went  away  with  slow  steps  and 
disappeared,  a  second  time  ascending  the  steep  bank. 

Jack  slept  all  tlie  time.  Mrs.  \Veldon,  leaving  him  on 
Nan's  knees,  then  descended  toward  the  strand.  Dick  8and 
and  his  companions  followed  her.  The  question  was,  to  see 
if  the  state  of  tlic  sea  then  would  permit  tliem  to  go  as  far  as 
the  "Pilgrim's"  hull,  where  there  were  still  many  objects 
which  might  be  useful  to  the  little  troop. 

'J' he  rocks  on  whicli  the  schooner  had  been  Avreckcd  were 
now  dry.  In  the  midst  of  the  dehrift  of  all  kinds  stood  the 
ship's  carcass,  whieh  the  liigh  sea  had  partly  covered  again. 
That  astonished  Dick  Sand,  for  he  knew  that  the  tides  are 
only  very  moderate  on  the  American  gca-shore  of  the  Pacific. 


118  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN. 

But,  after  all.  Hiis  phenomenon  might  be  explained  by  the 
furv  of  the  Aviiul  -vvliich  boat  the  coast. 

On  seeing  their  slii])  again,  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  compan- 
ions exjierieneed  a  ])aini"ul  im^iression.  It  was  there  that 
tliey  liad  lived  for  long  days,  tliere  that  they  had  sulfered. 
Tlie  aspect  of  tliat  i)oor  shi]i,  lialf  broken,  having  neitlier 
mast  nor  sails,  lying  on  her  side  like  a  being  deprived  of  life, 
sadly  grieved  tlicir  hearts.  But  they  must  visit  this  hull,  be- 
fore the  sea  should  come  to  finish  demolishing  it. 

Dick  Sand  and  the  blacks  could  easily  make  their  way  into 
the  interior,  after  having  hoisted  themseh'es  on  deck  by 
means  of  the  ropes  which  hung  over  the  ''  Pilgrim's  "  side. 
AVhile  Tom,  Hercules,  Bat,  and  Austin  employed  themselves 
in  taking  from  the  store-room  all  that  might  be  useful,  as 
much  eatables  as  liquids,  the  novice  made  his  way  into  the 
arsenal.  Thanks  to  God,  the  water  had  not  invaded  this 
part  of  the  ship,  whose  rear  had  remained  out  of  the  water 
after  the  stranding. 

There  Dick  Sand  found  four  guns  in  good  condition,  ex- 
cellent Remingtons  from  Purdy  &  Co.'s  factory,  as  well  as  a 
hundred  cartridges,  carefully  shut  up  in  their  cartridge- 
boxes.  There  was  material  to  arm  his  little  band,  and  put  it 
in  a  state  of  defence,  if,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  the  In- 
dians attacked  him  on  the  way. 

The  novice  did  not  neglect  to  take  a  pocket-lantern;  but 
the  ship's  charts,  laid  in  a  forward  quarter  and  damaged  by 
the  water,  were  beyond  use. 

There  were  also  in  the  "Pilgrim's"  arsenal  some  of  those 
solid  cutlasses  which  serve  to  cut  up  Avhales.  Dick  Sand 
chose  six,  destined  to  complete  the  arming  of  his  companions, 
and  he  did  not  forget  to  bring  an  inoffensive  child's  gun, 
which  belonged  to  little  Jack. 

As  to  the  other  objects  still  held  by  the  ship,  they  had 
either  been  dispersed,  or  they  could  no  longer  be  used.  Be- 
sides, it  was  useless  to  overburden  themselves  for  the  few 
days  the  journey  would  last.  In  food,  in  arms,  in  munitions, 
they  were  more'  than  provided  for.  ]\Ieanwhilc,  Dick  Sand, 
by  ]\Irs.  AVeldon's  advice,  did  not  neglect  to  take  all  the 
money  which  he  found  on  board — about  five  hundred  dollars. 

That  was  a  small  sum,  indeed!  Mrs.  "Weldon  had  carried  a 
a  larger  amount  herself  and  she  did  not  find  it  again. 

"Who,  then,  except  Negoro,  had  been  able  to  visit  the  ship 
before  them  and  to  lay  liands  on  Captain  Hull's  and  Mrs. 


A   CAPTAI??-  AT   FIFTEEN.  119 

Weldon's  reserve?  No  one  but  he,  surely,  could  be  suspected. 
Ho-wever,  Dick  Sand  hesitated  a  moment.  All  that  he 
knew  and  all  that  he  saw  of  him  was  that  ererything  was  to 
be  feared  from  that  concentrated  nature,  from  whom  the  mis- 
fortunes of  others  could  snatch  a  smile.  Yes,  Kegoro  was  an 
evil  being,  but  must  they  conclude  from  that  that  he  was  a 
criminal?  It  was  painful  to  Dick  Sand's  character  to  go  as 
far  as  that.  And,  meanwhile,  could  suspicion  rest  on  any 
other?  Xo,  those  honest  negroes  had  not  left  the  grotto  for 
an  instant,  while  Kegoro  had  wandered  over  the  beach.  He 
alone  must  be  guilty.  Dick  Sand  then  resolved  to  question 
Kegoro,  and,  if  necessary,  have  him  searched  when  he  re- 
turned.    He  wished  to  know  decidedly  what  to  believe. 

The  sun  was  then  going  down  to  the  horizon.  At  that 
date  he  had  not  yet  crossed  the  equator  to  carry  heat  and 
light  into  the  northern  hemisphere,  but  he  Avas  approaching 
it.  He  fell,  then,  almost  perpendicularly  to  that  circula: 
line  where  the  sea  and  the  sky  meet.  Twilight  was  short 
darkness  fell  promptly — which  confirmed  the  novice  in  the 
thought  that  he  had  landed  on  a  point  of  the  coast  situated 
between  the  tropic  of  Capricorn  and  the  equator. 

Mrs.  "Weldon,  Dick  Sand,  and  the  blacks  then  returned  to 
the  grotto,  where  they  must  take  some  hours'  rest. 

''The  night  will  still  be  stormy,"  observed  Tom,  pointing 
to  the  horizon  laden  with  heavy  clouds. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "  there  is  a  strong  breeze  blow- 
ing up.  But  what  matter,  at  present?  Our  poor  ship  is 
lost,  and  the  tempest  can  no  longer  reach  us!" 

"  God's  will  be  done!"  said  Mrs.  "Weldon. 

It  was  agreed  that  during  that  night,  which  would  be  Very 
dark,  each  of  the  blacks  would  watch  turn  about  at  the 
entrance  to  the  grotto.  They  could,  besides,  count  upon 
Dingo  to  keep  a  careful  watch. 

They  then  perceived  that  Cousin  Benedict  had  not  re- 
turned. 

HerculcB  called  him  with  nil  the  strength  of  his  powerful 
lungs,  and  almo.sl  immediately  they  saw  the  entomologist 
coming  down  the  slo})es  of  the  clifl',  at  the  risk  of  breaking 
his  neck. 

Cousin  Ifcnedict  was  literally  furious.  He  had  not  found 
a  single  new  insect  in  the  forest — no,  not  one — which  was  lit 
to  figure  in  his  collection.  Scorpions,  scolopcndras,  and  other 
myriapodes,  as  many  as  he  could  wish,  and  even  more,  were 


ICO  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN". 

discovered.  And  we  know  that  Cousin  Benedict  did  not  in- 
terest himself  in  nivriapodes. 

•■'  It  was  not  wortli  the  trouble,"  added  he,  "  to  travel  live 
or  six  thousand  miles,  to  have  braved  the  tempest,  to  be 
wrecked  on  the  coast,  and  not  meet  one  of  those  American 
hexapodes,  which  do  honor  to  an  entomological  museum! 
Xo;  the  game  was  not  worth  the  candle!" 

As  a  conclusion,  Cousin  Benedict  asked  to  go  away.  He 
did  not  wish  to  remain  another  hour  on  that  detested  shore. 

Mrs.  AVeldon  calmed  her  large  child.  They  made  him  hope 
that  he  would  be  more  fortunate  the  next  day,  and  all  went 
to  lie  down  in  the  grotto,  to  sleep  there  till  sunrise,  when  Tom 
observed  that  Negoro  had  not  yet  returned,  though  night  had 
arrived. 

*' Where  can  he  be?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

*'What  matter!"  said  Bat. 

"  On  the  contrary,  it  does  matter,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon. 
"I  should  prefer  having  that  man  still  near  us." 

"  Doubtless,  Mrs.  Weldon," replied  Dick  Sand;  "but  if  he 
has  forsaken  our  company  voluntarily,  I  do  not  see  how  we 
could  oblige  him  to  rejoin  us.  Who  knows  but  he  has  his 
reasons  for  avoiding  us  forever?" 

And  taking  Mrs.  Weldon  aside,  Dick  Sand  confided  to  her  his 
suspicions.  He  was  not  astonished  to  find  that  she  had  them 
also.     Only  they  differed  on  one  ])oint. 

"If  Negoro  reappears,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "he  will  have 
]nit  the  product  of  his  theft  in  a  safe  place.  Take  my  advice. 
Wliat  we  had  better  do,  not  being  able  to  convict  him,  will 
be  to  hide  our  suspicions  from  him,  and  let  him  believe  that 
we  are  his  dupes." 

Mrs.  AVeldon  was  right.     Dick  Sand  took  her  advice. 

However,  Negoro  was  called  several  times. 

He  did  not  reply.  Either  he  Vvas  still  too  far  aw^ay  to  hear, 
or  he  did  not  wish  to  return. 

The  blacks  did  not  regret  being  rid  of  his  presence;  but,  as 
Mrs.  Weldon  had  just  said,  perhaps  he  w^as  still  more  to  be 
feared  afar  than  near.  And,  moreover,  how  explain  that  Ne- 
goro would  venture  alone  into  that  unknown  country?  Had 
he  then  lost  his  way,  and  on  this  dark  night  was  he  vainly 
seeking  the  way  to  the  grotto? 

Mrs.  Weldon  and  Dick  Sand  did  not  know  what  to  think. 
However  it  was,  they  could  not,  in  order  to  wait  for  Negoro, 
deprive  themselves  of  a  repose  so  necessary  to  all. 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  121 

At  that  moment  the  dog,  wliich  was  running  on  the  strand, 
barked  aloud. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  Dingo?"'  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"We  must,  indeed,  find  out,"  replied  the  novice.  "Per- 
haps it  is  Negoro  commg  back." 

At  once  Hercules,  Bat,  Austin,  and  Dick  Sand  took  their 
way  to  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

But,  arrived  at  the  bank,  they  neither  saw  nor  heard  any- 
thing.    Dmgo  now  was  silent. 

Dick  Sand  and  the  blacks  returned  to  the  grotto. 

The  going  to  sleep  was  organized  as  well  as  possible.  Each 
of  the  blacks  prepared  himself  to  watch  in  turn  outside. 
But  Mrs.  Weldon,  uneasy,  could  not  sleep.  It  seemed  to  her 
that  this  land  so  ardently  desireJ  did  not  give  her  what  she 
had  been  led  to  hope  for,  security  for  hers,  and  rest  for  her- 
self. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

HAKRIS. 

The  next  day,  April  7th,  Austin,  who  was  on  guard  at 
sunrise,  saw  Dingo  run  barking  to  the  little  river.  Almost 
immediately  Mrs.  Weldon,  Dick  Sand  and  the  blacks  came 
out  of  the  grotto. 

Decidedly  there  was  something  there. 

"Dingo  has  scented  a  living  creature,  man  or  beast,"  said 
the  novice. 

"  At  all  events  it  was  not  ISTegoro,"  observed  Tom,  "  for 
Dingo  would  bark  with  fury." 

"If  it  is  not  Negoro,  where  can  he  be?"  asked  Mrs.  Wel- 
don, giving  Dick  Sand  a  look  which  was  only  understood  by 
him;  "and  if  it  is  not  he,  who,  then,  is  it?" 

"We  arc  going  to  sec,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  the  novice. 
Then,  addressing  Bat,  Austin,  and  Hercules,  "Arm  yourselves, 
my  friends,  and  come  I" 

Each  of  the  blacks  took  a  gun  and  a  cutlass,  as  Dick  Sand 
had  done.  A  cartridge  was  slip])ed  into  the  breech  of  the 
Kemingtons,  and,  thus  armed,  all  four  Avcnt  to  the  bank  of 
the  river. 

^Irs.  Weldon,  Tom,  and  Acteon  remained  at  the  enl ranee 
of  the  grotto,  where  little  Jack  and  Nan  still  rested  by  them- 
selves. 


123  A    tAI>TAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

Tlio  sun  was  tlicn  rising.  Tlis  rays,  intercepted  by  tlie 
high  mountains  in  tlie  east,  did  not  reacli  the  cliff  directly; 
but  as  far  as  the  western  horizon,  the  sea  sparkled  under  the 
first  fires  of  day. 

Dick  Sand  and  his  companions  followed  the  strand  of  the 
shore,  the  curve  of  which  joined  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

There  Dingo,  motionless,  and  as  if  on  guard,  was  continu- 
ally barking. 

It  Avas  evident  that  it  saw  or  scented  some  native. 

And,  in  fact,  it  was  no  longer  against  Negoro,  against  its 
enemy  on  board  the  ship,  that  the  dog  had  a  grudge  this 
time. 

At  that  moment  a  man  turned  the  last  plane  of  the  cliff, 
lie  advanced  prudently  to  the  strand,  and,  by  his  familiar 
gestures,  he  sought  to  calm  Dingo.  They  saw  that  he  did 
not  care  to  face  the  anger  of  the  vigorous  animal. 

"It  is  not  Ncgoro!"  said  Hercules. 

"We  cannot  lose  by  tlie  change,"  replied  Bat. 

"No,"  said  the  novice.  "It  is  probably  some  native,  who 
will  spare  us  the  ennui  of  a  separation.  We  are  at  last  going 
to  know  exactly  where  we  are." 

And  all  four,  putting  their  guns  back  on  their  shoulders, 
went  rapidly  toward  the  unknown. 

The  latter,  on  seeing  them  approach,  at  first  gave  signs  of 
the  greatest  surprise.  Very  certainly,  ho  did  not  expect  to 
meet  strangers  on  that  part  of  the  coast.  Evidently,  also, 
he  had  not  yet  perceived  the  remains  of  the  "Pilgrim,"  other- 
wise the  presence  of  the  shii)wrecked  Avould  very  naturally 
be  explained  to  him.  Besides,  during  the  night  the  surf  had 
finished  demolishing  the  ship's  hull;  there  Avas  nothing  left 
but  the  wrecks  that  floated  in  the  offing. 

At  the  first  moment  the  unknoAvn,  seeing  four  armed  men 
marching  toAvard  him,  made  a  movement  as  if  he  Avould  re- 
trace his  steps,  lie  carried  a  gun  in  a  shoulder-belt,  which 
passed  rapidly  into  his  hand,  and  from  his  hand  to  his  shoul- 
der.    They  felt  that  he  was  not  reassured. 

Dick  Sand  made  a  gesture  of  salutation,  which  doubtless 
the  unknown  understood,  for,  after  some  hesitation,  he  con- 
tinued to  advance. 

Dick  Sand  could  then  examine  him  Avith  attention. 

He  Avas  a  vigorous  man,  forty  years  old  at  the  most,  his 
eyes  bright,  his  hair  and  beard  gray,  his  skin  sun-burnt  like 
that  of  a  nomad  who  has  always  lived  in  the  open  air,  in  the 


■  IT  l.s  NUT    A    <  AMI-,    ]T  ].-,  .'...l    A    MI.l.A'W..       iill,v  AUl,  AM    HiU^-^.     —^te  p.lyc  IMl. 


A    CArTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  123 

forest,  or  on  the  plain.  A  kind  of  blouse  of  tanned  skin 
served  him  for  a  close  coat,  a  large  hat  covered  his  head, 
leather  boots  came  up  above  his  knees,  and  spurs  with  large 
rowels  sounded  from  their  high  heels. 

What  Dick  Sand  noticed  at  first — and  which  was  so,  in 
fact — was  that  he  had  before  him,  not  one  of  those  Indians, 
habitual  rovers  over  the  pampas,  but  one  of  those  advent- 
urers of  foreign  blood,  often  not  very  commendable,  who  are 
frequently  met  with  in  those  distant  countries. 

It  also  seemed,  by  his  rather  familiar  attitude,  by  the  red- 
dish color  of  a  few  hairs  of  his  beard,  that  this  unknown  must 
be  of  Auglo-Saxon  origin.  At  all  events,  he  was  neither  an 
Indian  nor  a  Spaniard. 

And  that  appeared  certain,  when,  in  answer  to  Dick  Sand, 
who  said  to  him  in  English,  "  Welcome!"  he  replied  in  the 
same  language  and  Avithout  any  accent: 

''Welcome  yourself,  my  young  friend,"  said  the  unknown, 
advancing  toward  the  novice,  whose  hand  he  pressed. 

As  to  the  blacks,  he  contented  himself  with  making  a  gest- 
ure to  them,  without  speaking  to  tliem. 

**  You  are  English?"'  he  asked  the  novice. 

"Americans,"'  replied  Dick  Sand. 

"From  the  South?" 

"From  the  North." 

This  rej)ly  seemed  to  please  the  unknown,  who  shook  the 
novice's  hand  more  vigorously,  and  this  time  in  a  very  Ameri- 
can manner. 

"And  may  I  know%  my  young  friend,"  he  asked,  "  how  you 
find  yourself  on  this  coast?" 

But,  at  that  moment,  without  waiting  till  the  novice  had 
replied  to  his  question,  the  unknown  took  ofl:  his  hat  and 
bowed. 

Mrs.  Weldon  had  advanced  as  far  as  the  steep  bank,  and 
she  then  found  herself  facing  him. 

It  was  she  who  rej)lied  to  his  (piestion. 

"Sir,"  said  she,  "we  are  sliii)wreckcd  ones,  whose  shiji 
was  broken  to  ])ieces  yesterday  on  these  reefs." 

An  expression  (»f  pity  spread  over  the  unknown's  face,  whose 
eyes  sought  the  vessel  which  had  been  stranded. 

"There  is  nothing  left  of  our  ship!"  added  the  novice. 
"The  surf  has  finished  the  work  of  demolishing  it  durinc:  the 
night." 


124  A    CAITAIX    AT   FIFTEEN-. 

'' And  our  first  question,'"  continued  Mrs.  Wcldon,  "will 
be  to  ask  you  -where  we  are.'' 

"  But  you  are  on  the  sea-coast  of  Soutli  America/'  re])lied 
the  unknown,  who  a})i)eared  surprised  at  the  question.  '*  Can 
you  have  any  doubt  about  that?" 

"'  Yes,  sir,  for  the  tempest  had  been  able  to  make  us  devi- 
ate from  our  route,"'  replied  Dick  Sand.  "But  I  shall  ask 
where  we  are  more  exactly.     On  the  coast  of  Peru,  I  think?" 

"No,  my  young  friend,  no!  A  little  more  to  the  south! 
Yon  are  wrecked  on  the  Bolivian  coast." 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  Dick  Sand. 

"And  yon  are  even  on  that  southern  part  of  Bolivia  which 
borders  on  Chili." 

"  Then  what  is  that  cape?"  asked  Dick  Sand,  pointing  to 
the  promontory  on  the  north. 

"I  cannot  tell  you  the  name,"  replied  the  unknown,  "for 
if  I  know  the  country  in  the  interior  pretty  well  from  having 
often  traversed  it,  it  is  my  first  visit  to  this  shore." 

Dick  Sand  reflected  on  what  he  had  just  learned.  That 
only  half  astonished  him,  for  his  calculation  might  have,  and 
indeed  must  have,  deceived  him  concerning  the  currents;  but 
the  error  was  not  considerable.  In  fact,  he  believed  himself 
somewhere  between  the  twenty-seventh  and  the  thirtieth 
parallel,  from  the  bearings  he  had  taken  from  the  Isle  of 
Paques,  and  it  was  on  the  twenty-fifth  parallel  that  he  Avas 
wrecked.  There  was  no  impossibility  in  the  "Pilgi-im's" 
having  deviated  by  relatively  small  digression,  in  such  a  long 
passage. 

Besides,  there  was  no  reason  to  doubt  the  unknown's  asser- 
tions, and,  as  that  coast  was  that  of  lower  Bolivia  there  was 
nothing  astonishing  in  its  being  so  deserted. 

"  Sir,"  then  said  Dick  Sand,  "after  your  reply  I  must  con- 
clude that  we  are  at  a  rather  great  distance  from  Lima." 

"Oh!  Lima  is  far  away — over  there — in  the  north!" 

Mrs.  Weldon,  made  suspicious  first  of  all  by  Xegoro's  dis- 
appearance, observed  the  newly-arrived  with  extreme  atten- 
tion; but  she  could  discover  nothing,  either  in  his  attitude  or 
in  his  manner  of  expressing  himself,  which  could  lead  her  to 
suspect  his  good  faith. 

"  Sir,"  said  she,  "without  doubt  my  question  is  not  rash. 
Yea  do  not  seem  to  be  of  Peruvian  origin?" 

*'I  am  American  as  you  are,  madam,"  said  the  unknown, 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  125 

who  waited  for  an  instaut  for  the  American  lady  to  tell  him 
her  name. 

"Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  the  latter. 

"I?  My  name  is  Harris  and  I  was  born  in  South  Carolina. 
But  here  it  is  twenty  years  since  I  left  my  country  for  the 
pampas  of  Bolivia,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  see  com- 
patriots." 

"  You  live  in  this  part  of  the  province,  Mr.  Harris?"  again 
asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

•'•'Xo,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  Harris,  ''I  live  in  the  south, 
on  the  Chilian  frontier;  but  at  this  present  moment  I  am 
going  to  Atacama,  in  the  northeast." 

"  Are  we  then  on  the  borders  of  the  desert  of  that  name?" 
asked  Dick  Sand. 

'*■  Precisely,  my  young  friend,  and  this  desert  extends  far 
beyond  the  mountains  which  shut  otf  the  horizon." 

"The  desert  of  Atacama?"  repeated  Dick  Sand. 

"Yes,"  replied  Harris.  "This  desert  is  like  a  country  by 
itself,  in  this  vast  South  America,  from  which  it  di£fers  in 
many  respects.  It  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  Curious  and 
the  least  known  portion  of  this  continent." 

"And  you  travel  alone?"  asked  Mrs.  "Weldon. 

"Oh,  it  is  not  the  first  time  that  I  have  taken  this  jour- 
ney!" replied  the  American.  "There  is,  two  hundred  miles 
from  liere,  an  important  farm,  the  Farm  of  San  Felice,  which 
belonofs  to  one  of  my  brotliers,  and  it  is  to  his  house  that  I 
am  going  for  my  trade.  If  you  wish  to  follow  me  you  will  be 
well  received,  and  the  means  of  transport  to  gain  the  town  of 
Atacama  will  not  fail  you.  My  brother  will  be  happy  to  fur- 
nish them." 

These  offers,  made  freely,  could  only  prepossess  in  favor 
of  the  American,  who  immediately  continued,  addressing 
Mrs.  Weldon: 

"  These  Ijlacks  are  vour  slaves?" 

And  he  pointed  to  Tom  and  his  companions. 

"  We  have  no  longer  any  slaves  in  the  United  States,"  re- 
plied Mrs.  Weldon,  (|uickly.  "  The  North  alK)lislied  slavery 
long  ago.  and  Ihc  Soutb  has  been  obliged  to  follow  llic  exam- 
ple of  tlif  Xorlh!" 

"All!  that  is  so,"  replied  Harris.  "1  had  forgotten  that 
the  war  of  1802  had  decided  lliat  grave  question.  I  ask  those 
honest  men's  ]»ardon  for  it,"  added  Harris,  with  that  delicate 
irony  which   a  Southerner  must  put  into  his  language  when 


1-2G  A    PAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN. 

speaking  to  l)lacks.  *'  JUit,  on  seeing  those  gentlemen  in 
}onr  service,  I  believed '' 

'•  They  are  not,  and  have  never  been,  in  my  service,  sir," 
replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  gravely. 

''  We  should  be  honored  in  serving  yon,  Mrs.  Weldon," 
then  said  old  Tom.  ''But,  as  Mr.  Harris  knows,  we  do  not 
Ix^long  to  anybody.  I  have  been  a  slave  myself,  it  is  true, 
and  sold  as  such  in  Africa,  Avhen  1  was  only  six  years  old;  but 
my  son  Bat.  here,  was  born  of  an  enfranchised  father,  and, 
as  to  our  com])anions,  they  Avere  born  of  free  parents." 

'•  I  can  only  congratulate  you  about  it,"  replied  Harris,  in 
a  tone  which  Mrs.  Weldon  did  not  find  sufficiently  serious. 
"  In  this  land  of  liolivia,  also,  we  have  no  slaves.  Then  you 
have  nothing  to  fear,  and  you  can  go  about  as  freely  here  as 
in  the  New  England  States." 

At  that  moment  little  Jack,  followed  by  Nan,  came  out  of 
the  grotto,  rubbing  his  eyes.  Then,  perceiving  his  mother, 
he  ran  to  her.     Mrs.  Weldon  embraced  him  tenderly. 

"The  charming  little  boy!"  said  the  American,  approach- 
ing Jack. 

*'  It  is  my  son,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  Oh,  !Mrs.  AVeldon,  you  must  have  been  doubly  tried,  be- 
cause your  child  has  been  exposed  to  so  many  dangers." 

"  God  has  brought  him  out  of  them  safe  and  sound,  as  He 
lias  US,  Mr.  Harris,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon. 

''Will  you  permit  me  to  kiss  him  on  his  pretty  cheeks?" 
asked  Harris. 

"Willingly,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon. 

But  Mr.  Harris's  face,  it  appeared,  did  not  please  little 
Jack,  for  he  clung  more  closely  to  his  mother. 

"Hold I"  said  Harris,  "you  do  not  want  me  to  embrace 
you?     You  are  afraid  of  me,  my  good  little  man?" 

"  Excuse  him,  sir,"  Mrs.  Weldon  hastened  to  say.  "It  is 
timidity  on  liis  part." 

"Good I  We  shall  become  better  acquainted,"  replied 
Harris.  "  Once  at  the  Farm,  he  will  amuse  himself  mount- 
ing a  gentle  pony,  which  will  tell  him  good  things  of  me." 

But  the  offer  of  the  gentle  pony  did  not  succeed  in  cajoling 
Jack  any  more  than  the  ))ro])osition  to  embrace  Mr.  Harris. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  thus  o])]io-;ed,  hastened  to  change  the  conver- 
sation. They  must  not  offend  a  man  who  had  so  obligingly 
offered  his  services. 


A   CAPTAIN'   AT  riFTEEN".  127 

During  this  time  Dick  Sand  was  reflecting  on  the  propo- 
sition which  had  been  made  to  them  so  opportunely,  to  gain 
the  Farm  of  San  Felice.  It  was,  as  Harris  had  said,  a  journey 
of  over  two  hundred  miles,  sometimes  through  forests,  some- 
times through  plains — a  very  fatiguing  journey,  certainly,  be- 
cause there  were  absolutely  no  means  of  transport. 

The  young  novice  then  presented  some  observations  to  that 
effect,  and  waited  for  the  reply  the  American  was  going  to 
make. 

"The  journey  is  a  little  long,  indeed,"  replied  Harris,  "but 
I  have  there,  a  few  hundred  feet  behind  the  steep  bank,  a 
horse  which  I  count  on  offering  to  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  son. 
For  us,  there  is  nothing  difficult,  nor  even  very  fatiguing  in 
making  the  journey  on  foot.  Besides,  when  I  spoke  of  two 
hundred  miles,  it  was  by  following,  as  I  have  already  done, 
the  course  of  this  river.  But  if  we  go  through  the  forest,  our 
distance  will  be  shortened  by  at  least  eighty  miles.  Now,  at 
the  rate  of  ten  miles  a  day,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  shall  arrive 
at  the  Farm  witliout  too  much  distress." 

Mrs.  AVeldon  thanked  the  American. 

"  You  cannot  thank  me  better  than  by  accepting,"  replied 
Harris.  "  Though  I  have  never  crossed  this  forest,  I  do  not 
believe  I  shall  be  embarrassed  in  finding  the  way,  being  suffi- 
ciently accustomed  to  the  pampas.  But  there  is  a  graver 
question — that  of  food.  I  have  only  what  is  barely  enough 
for  myself  while  on  the  way  to  the  Farm  of  San  Felice." 

"Mr.  Harris,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "  fortunately  we  have 
food  in  more  than  sufficient  quantity,  and  we  shall  be  happy 
to  share  with  you." 

"Well,  Mrs.  Weldon,  it  seems  tome  that  all  is  arranged 
for  the  best,  and  that  we  have  only  to  set  out." 

Harris  went  toward  the  steep  bank,  with  the  intention  of 
going  to  take  his  horse  from  the  place  where  he  had  left  it, 
when  Dick  Sand  stopped  him  again,  1)V  asking  him  a  question. 

To  abandon  the  sea-coast,  to  force  his  way  into  the  interior 
of  the  country,  under  that  interminal)le  forest,  did  not  ]ile;iso 
the  young  novice,  'I'ho  sailor  rea])])eared  in  him,  and  either 
to  ascend  or  descend  the  coast  would  be  more  to  his  mind. 

"Mr.  Harris,"  said  he,  "instead  of  travelling  for  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  the  Desert  of  Atacama,  why 
not  follow  the  coast?  Distance  for  distance,  would  it  not  bo 
better  worth  while  to  seek  to  reach  tiic  nearest  town,  cither 
north  or  Houih!''" 


128  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

'•  But  my  young  friend,"  replied  Harris,  frowning  slightly, 
"  it  seems  to' me  that  on  this  coast,  Avhich  I  know  very  im- 
]ierfectly,  there  is  no  town  nearer  tlian  tliree  or  four  hundred 
miles." 

"To  the  north,  yes,"  replied  Dick  Sand;  ''hut  to  the 
south " 

"To  the  south,"  replied  the  American,  "we  must  descend 
as  far  as  Chili.  Now,  the  distance  is  almost  as  long,  and,  in 
vour  place.  T  sliould  not  like  to  pass  near  the  pampas  of  the 
Argentine  Eepublic.  As  to  me,  to  my  great  regret,  I  could 
not  accompany  you  there." 

"  The  ships"^  which  go  from  Chili  to  Peru,  do  they  not  pass, 
then,  in  sight  of  this  coast?"  asked  Mrs.  AVeldon. 

"  Xo,"  replied  Harris.  "  They  keep  much  more  out  at  sea, 
and  vou  ought  not  to  meet  any  of  them." 

"Truly,"  replied  Mrs.  AVeldon.  "Well,  Dick,  have  you 
still  sonie  question  to  ask  Mr.  Harris?" 

"A  single  one,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  the  novice,  Avho  ex- 
perienced some  difficulty  in  giving  up.  "  I  shall  ask  Mr. 
Harris  in  what  port  he  thinks  we  shall  be  able  to  find  a  ship 
to  bring  us  back  to  San  Francisco?" 

"  Faith,  my  young  friend,  I  could  not  tell  you,"  replied  the 
American.  "  AH  that  I  know  is,  that  at  the  farm  of  San 
Felice  we  will  furnish  you  with  the  means  of  gaining  the 
town  of  Atacama,  and  from  there " 

"Mr.  Harris,"  then  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "do  not  believe 
that  Dick  Sand  hesitates  to  accept  your  oifers." 

"  Xo,  Mrs.  AVeldon,  no;  surely  I  do  not  hesitate,"  replied 
the  young  novice;  "but  I  cannot  help  regretting  not  being 
stranded  a  few  degrees  farther  north  or  farther  south.  AVo 
should  have  been  in  proximity  to  a  port,  and  that  circum- 
stance, in  facilitating  our  return  to  our  country,  would  pre- 
vent us  from  taxing  Mr.  Harris's  good  will." 

"  Do  not  fear  imposing  upon  me,  i\Irs.  Weldon,"  returned 
Harris.  "  I  repeat  to  you  that  too  rarely  have  I  occasion  to 
find  myself  again  in  the  presence  of  my  compatriots.  For 
me  it  is  a  real  pleasure  to  oblige  you." 

"  AVe  accept  your  offer,  Mr.  Harris,"  replied  Mrs.  AA'eldon; 
"but  I  should  not  wish,  however,  to  deprive  you  of  your 
horse.     I  am  a  good  walker " 

"And  I  am  a  very  good  walker,"  replied  Harris,  bowing. 
"  Accustomed  to  long  journeys  across  the  pampas,  it  is  not  I 
who  will  keep  back  our  caravan.     No,   Mrs.  AA'eldon,  you 


A   CAPTAIN"    AT   FIFTEE^T.  129 

and  your  little  Jack  will  use  tliis  horse.  Besides,  it  is  pos- 
sible' that  we  may  meet  some  of  the  farm  servants  on  the  way, 
and,  as  they  will  be  mounted — well,  they  will  yield  their 
horses  to  us." 

Dick  Sand  saw  well  that  in  making  new  objections  he  would 
oppose  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"Mr.  Harris,"  said  he,  "when  do  we  set  out?" 

"Even  to-day,  my  young  friend,"  rephed  Harris.  "The 
bad  season  commences  with  the  month  of  April,  and  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  for  you  to  reach  the  farm  of  San  Fe- 
lice first.  Finally,  the  way  across  the  forest  is  the  shortest, 
and  perhaps  the  safest.  It  is  less  exposed  than  the  coast  to 
the  incursions  of  wandering  Indians,  who  are  indefatigable 
robbers." 

"  Tom,  my  friends,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  turning  to  the 
blacks,  "  it  only  remains  for  us  to  make  preparations  for  de- 
parture. Let  us  select,  then,  from  among  the  provisions  on 
hand,  those  which  can  be  most  easily  transported,  and  let  us 
make  packs,  of  which  each  will  take  his  share." 

"  Mr.  Dick,"  said  Hercules,  "if  you  wish,  I  shall  carry  the 
whole  load  very  well." 

"  Xo,  my  brave  Hercules,"  replied  the  novice;  "it  will  be 
better  for  us  all  to  share  the  burden." 

"  You  are  a  strong  companion,  Hercules,"  then  said  Harris, 
who  looked  at  the  negro  as  if  the  latter  were  for  sale.  "  In 
the  markets  of  Africa  you  would  be  worth  a  good  price." 

"  I  am  worth  what  I  am  worth,"  replied  Hercules,  laugh- 
ing, "  and  the  buyers  will  only  have  to  run  well,  if  they  wish 
to  catch  me." 

All  was  agreed  upon,  and  to  hasten  the  departure,  each 
went  to  work.  However,  they  had  only  to  think  of  feeding 
the  little  troop  for  the  journey  from  the  sea-coast  to  the  farm, 
that  is  to  say,  for  a  march  of  ten  days. 

"  But,  before  setting  out,  Mr.  Harris,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon, 
"before  accepting  your  hospitality,  I  beg  you  to  accept  ours. 
We  offer  it  to  you  with  our  best  wishes." 

"  I  accept,  Mrs.  Weldon;  I  accept  with  eagerness,"  replied 
Harris,  gayly. 

"  In  a  few  minutes  our  breakfast  v/ill  bo  ready." 

"Good,  Mrs.  Weldon.  lam  going  to  profit  by  those  ton 
minutes  to  go  and  get  my  horse  and  bring  it  here.  He  will 
have  Ijreakfasted,  he  will." 

"  Do  you  want  me  to  go  with  yim.  sir?"  asked  Difk  Sand. 


130  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

"As  you  ]>lcase,  my  yomis;  friciul/'  ro})]i{Hl  ITarris.  "  Come; 
I  shall  mako  you  acquainted  with  the  lower  course  of  this 
river." 

l^oih  set  out. 

During  this  time,  Hercnles  was  sent  in  search  of  tlie  ento- 
moU)gist.  Faitli,  Cousin  Benedict  was  very  uneasy  indeed 
ahout  what  was  passing  around  him. 

lie  was  tlien  wandering  on  the  summit  of  the  cliff  in  quest 
of  an  "  unfindable  "  insect,  which,  however,  he  did  not  lind. 

Ilcrcules  brought  him  back  against  his  will.  Mrs.  Weldon 
informed  him  that  departure  was  decided  upon,  and  that,  for 
ten  days,  they  must  travel  to  the  interior  of  the  country. 

Cousin  Benedict  replied  that  he  was  ready  to  set  out,  and 
that  he  would  not  ask  better  than  to  cross  America  entirely, 
provided  they  would  let  him  "collect"  on  the  Avay. 

Mrs.  Weldon  then  occupied  herself,  with  Xan's  assistance, 
in  preparing  a  comfortable  repast — a  good  precaution  before 
setting  out. 

During  this  time,  Harris,  accompanied  by  Dick  Sand,  had 
turned  the  angle  of  the  cliff.  Both  followed  the  high  bank, 
over  a  space  of  three  hundred  steps.  There,  a  horse,  tied  to 
a  tree,  gave  joyous  neighings  at  the  approach  of  his  master. 

It  was  a  vigorous  beast,  of  a  species  that  Dick  Sand  could 
not  recognize.  Neck  and  shoulders  long,  loins  short,  and 
hindquarters  stretched  out,  shoulders  flat,  forehead  almost 
pointed.  This  horse  offered,  however,  distinctive  signs  of 
those  races  to  which  we  attribute  an  Arabian  origin. 

"You  see,  my  young  friend,"  said  Harris,  "that  it  is  a 
strong  animal,  and  you  may  count  on  it  not  failing  you  on  the 
route." 

Harris  detached  his  horse,  took  it  by  the  bridle,  and  de- 
scended the  steep  bank  again,  preceding  Dick  Sand.  The 
latter  had  thrown  a  rapid  glance,  as  well  over  the  river  as  to- 
ward the  forest  which  shut  up  its  two  banks.  But  he  saw 
nothing  of  a  nature  to  make  him  uneasy. 

However,  when  he  liad  rejoined  the  American,  he  suddenly 
gave  him  the  following  question,  which  the  latter  could  little 
expect : 

"  Mr.  Harris,"  he  asked,  "you  have  not  met  a  Portuguese, 
named  Negoro,  in  the  night?" 

"Negoro?"  replied  Harris,  in  the  tone  of  a  man  Avho  does 
not  understand  what  is  said.     "  Who  is  this  Negoro?" 


A   CAPTAI1^'   AT   FIFTEEX.  131 

"He  was  the  cook  ou  board,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "  and  he 
has  disappeared." 

"  Drowned,  perhaps,"  said  Harris. 

"Xo,  no,"  replied  Dick  Sand.  **  Yesterday  evening  he 
was  still  Avith  us,  but  during  the  night  he  has  left  us,  and  he 
has  probably  ascended  the  steep  bank  of  this  river.  So  I 
asked  you,  who  have  come  from  that  side,  if  you  had  not 
met  him." 

"  I  have  met  nobody,"  replied  the  American;  "and  if  your 
cook  has  ventured  alone  into  the  forest,  he  runs  a  great  risk 
of  going  astrav.  Perhaps  we  shall  overtake  him  on  the 
way." 

"Yes:  perhaps  I"  replied  Dick  Sand. 

"When  the  two  returned  to  the  grotto,  breakfast  was  ready. 
It  was  composed,  like  the  supper  of  the  evening  before,  of 
alimentary  conserves,  of  corned  beef  and  of  biscuit.  Harris 
did  honor  to  it,  like  a  man  whom  nature  had  endowed  with  a 
great  appetite. 

"  Let  us  go,"  said  he;  "I  see  that  we  shall  not  die  of  hun- 
ger on  the  way!  I  shall  not  say  as  much  for  that  poor  devil 
of  a  Portuguese,  of  whom  our  voung  friend  has  spoken." 

"Ah!"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "Dick  Sand  has  told  you  that 
we  have  not  seen  Negoro  again?" 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  the  novice.  "I  desired  to 
know  if  Mr.  Harris  had  not  met  him." 

"Xo,"  replied  Harris;  "so  let  us  leave  that  deserter  where 
he  is,  and  think  of  our  departure — whenever  you  are  ready, 
Mrs.  Weldon." 

Each  took  the  pack  which  was  intended  for  him.  i\rrs. 
Weldon,  assisted  l)y  Hercules,  placed  herself  on  the  horse, 
and  the  ungi'atcful  little  Jack,  Avith  his  gun  strapped  on  his 
back,  straddled  the  animal  without  even  thinking  of  thank- 
ing him  Avho  had  put  that  excellent  beast  at  his  disi)osal. 
Jack,  jilaced  Ijefore  his  mother,  then  said  to  her  that  he 
would  know  how  to  lead  the  gentleman's  horse  very  well. 

Tbey  tlien  gave  him  (lie  bridle  to  hold,  and  he  did  not 
doubt  that  he  was  the  veritable  head  of  the  caravan. 


A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 


CHAPTEE     XVI. 

ON   THE    WAY. 


It  was  not  without  a  certain  apprehension — nothing  seemed 
to  justify  it,  liowever — that  Dick  Sand,  three  hundred  steps 
from  the  steep  bank  of  the  river,  penetrated  into  the  thick 
forest,  the  difficult  paths  of  which  he  and  his  companions 
were  going  to  follow  for  ten  days.  On  the  contrary,  Mrs. 
Welilon  herself,  a  woman  and  a  mother,  whom  the  perils 
would  make  doubly  anxious,  had  every  confidence.  Two  A'cry 
serious  motives  had  contributed  to  reassure  her;  first,  because 
this  region  of  the  pam|)as  was  neither  very  formidable  on  ac- 
count of  the  natives,  nor  on  account  of  the  animals  which 
were  found  there;  next,  because,  under  the  direction  of  Har- 
ris, of  a  guide  so  sure  of  himself  as  the  American  aj^peared  to 
be,  they  could  not  be  afraid  of  going  astray. 

Here  is  the  order  of  proceeding,  which,  as  far  as  possible, 
would  be  observed  during  the  journey: 

Dick  Sand  and  Harris,  both  armed,  one  with  his  long  gun, 
the  other  with  a  Kemington,  kept  at  the  head  of  the  little 
troop. 

Then  came  Bat  and  Austin,  also  armed,  each  with  a  gun 
and  a  cutlass. 

Behind  them  followed  Mrs.  Weldon  and  li'ttle  Jack,  on 
horseback;  then  Nan  and  Tom. 

In  the  rear,  Acteon,  armed  with  the  fourth  Eemington, 
and  Hercules,  with  a  hatchet  in  his  belt,  closed  the  march. 

Dingo  went  backwards  and  forwards,  and,  as  Dick  Sand 
remarked,  always  like  an  uneasy  dog  seeking  a  scent.  The 
dog's  ways  had  visibly  changed  since  the  "  Pilgrim's  "  ship- 
wreck had  cast  it  on  this  sea-coast.  It  seemed  agitated,  and 
almost  incessantly  it  kept  up  a  dull  grumbling,  rather  la- 
mentable than  furious.  That  was  remarked  by  all,  though 
no  one  could  explain  it. 

As  to  Cousin  Benedict,  it  had  been  as  impossible  to  assign 
him  an  order  of  marching  as  Dingo.  Unless  he  had  been 
held  by  a  string,  he  would  not  have  ke])t  it.  His  tin  box 
strajjped  to  his  shoulder,  his  net  in  his  hand,  his  large  mng- 
nifying  glass  suspended  to  his  neck,  sometimes  behind,  some 
times  in  front,  he  scampered  away  among  the  high  herbs^ 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  133 

watching  for  orthopters  or  any  other  insect  in  "pter,"  at  the 
risk  of  being  bit  by  some  venomous  serpent. 

During  the  first  hour  Mrs.  Weldon,  uneasy,  called  him 
back  twenty  times.     It  was  no  use. 

**  Cousin  Benedict,"  she  finished  by  saying  to  him,  "I  beg 
you  very  seriously  not  to  go  far  away,  and  I  urge  you  for  the 
last  time  to  pay  attention  to  my  entreaties." 

**  Meanwhile,  cousin,"  replied  the  intractable  entomologist, 
''when  I  perceive  an  insect?" 

"  When  you  perceive  an  insect,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon, 
"you  would  do  well  to  let  it  go  in  peace,  or  you  will  put  me 
under  the  necessity  of  taking  your  box  away  from  you." 

"  Take  away  my  box!"  cried  Cousin  Benedict,  as  if  it  were 
a  question  of  snatching  away  his  heart. 

*•  Your  box  and  your  net,"  added  Mrs.  Weldon,  pitilessly. 

"  My  net,  cousin!  And  why  not  my  glasses?  You  will 
not  dare!     Xo;  you  will  not  dare!" 

"  Even  your  glasses,  which  I  forgot.  I  thank  you.  Cousin 
Benedict,  for  reminding  me  that  I  have  that  means  of  making 
you  blind,  and,  in  that  way,  forcing  you  to  be  wise." 

This  triple  menace  had  the  effect  of  making  him  keep  quiet 
— this  unsubmissive  cousin — for  about  an  hour.  Then  he  be- 
gan to  go  away  again,  and,  as  he  would  do  the  same,  even 
without  net,  without  box,  and  without  glasses,  they  were 
obHged  to  let  him  do  as  he  pleased.  But  Hercules  undertook 
to  watch  him  closely — which  quite  naturally  became  one  of 
his  duties — and  it  was  agreed  that  he  would  act  with  Cousin 
Benedict  as  the  latter  would  with  an  insect;  that  is,  that  he 
would  catch  him,  if  necessary,  and  bring  him  back  as  delicately 
as  the  other  would  with  the  rarest  of  the  lepidopters. 

That  rule  made,  they  troubled  themselves  no  more  about 
Cousin  Benedict. 

The  little  troop,  it  has  been  seen,  was  well  armed,  and 
guarded  itself  carefully.  But,  as  Harris  repeated,  there  was 
no  encounter  to  fear  except  with  wandering  Indians,  and  they 
would  ])robably  see  none. 

At  all  events,  the  precautions  taken  would  suffice  to  keep 
them  respectful. 

The  paths  which  wound  across  the  thick  forest  did  not 
merit  that  name.  They  were  rather  the  tracks  ol'  animals 
than  the  tracks  of  men.  They  Cf)uld  f)n!y  be  followed  wilh 
difficulty.     iSo,  in  fixing  the  average  distance  that  the  little 


1?4  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTI.EN. 

troop  would  make  in  a  mtirch  of  hvolve  hours  at  only  five  or 
six  milos,  Harris  had  calculated  -wisely. 

The  weather,  however,  was  very  line.  The  sun  mounted 
toward  the  zenith,  spreading  in  waves  his  almost  perpendicu- 
lar rays.  On  the  plain  this  heat  would  be  unbearable,  Harris 
took  care  to  remark;  but,  under  those  imi)enetrable  branches, 
thev  bore  it  easilv  and  with  impunity. 

The  greater  part  of  the  trees  of  this  forest  were  unknown, 
as  well  to  Mrs.  Weldon  as  to  her  companion,  black  or  white. 

However,  an  expert  would  remark  that  they  Avere  more 
remarkable  for  their  quality  than  for  their  height.  Here,  it 
was  the  "banhinia,"  or  iron  wood;  there,  the  "  molompi," 
identical  with  the  ''pterocarpe,"  a  solid  and  light  wood,  fit 
for  making  tlie  spoons  used  in  sugar  manufactories  or  oars, 
from  the  trunk  of  which  exuded  an  abundant  resin;  further 
on,  "  fusticks,"  or  yellow  wood,  well  supplied  with  coloring 
materials,  and  lignum-vitives,  measuring  as  much  as  twelve 
feet  in  diameter,  but  inferior  in  quality  to  the  ordinary 
ligTium-vita?s. 

While  walking,  Dick  Sand  asked  Harris  the  name  of  these 
different  trees. 

"  Then  you  have  never  been  on  the  coast  of  South  Ameri- 
ca?" Harris  asked  him  before  replying  to  his  question. 

"Xever,"  replied  the  novice;  ''never,  during  my  voyages, 
have  I  had  occasion  to  visit  these  coasts,  and  to  say  the  truth, 
I  do  not  believe  that  anybody  who  knew  about  them  has  ever 
spoken  to  me  of  them."' 

'•  But,  have  you  at  least  explored  the  coasts  of  Columbia, 
those  of  Chili,  or  of  ratugonia?" 

"  No,  never." 

"  But  perhaps  Mrs.  "Weldon  has  visited  this  part  of  the 
new  continent?"  asked  Harris.  ''Americans  do  not  fear 
voyages,  and  doubtless " 

"Ko,  Mr.  Harris,"  replied  Mrs.  "Weldon.  "The  commer- 
cial interests  of  my  husband  have  never  called  him  except  to 
New  Zealand,  and  I  have  not  had  to  accompany  him  else- 
where. Not  one  of  us,  then,  knows  this  portion  of  lower  Bo- 
livia." 

"  Well,  Mrs.  "Weldon,  you  and  your  companions  Avill  see  a 
singular  conntrv.  which  contrasts  "^strangely  with  the  regions 
of  Peru,  of  Brazil,  or  of  the  Argentine  liepublic.  Its  flora 
and  fanna  v»ould  astonish  a  naturalist.     Ah!  Ave  may  say  that 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  135 

you  have  been  shipwrecked  at  a  good  place,  and  if  we  may 
ever  thank  chance " 

"  I  wish  to  believe  that  it  is  not  chance  which  has  led  us 
here,  but  God,  Mr.  Harris." 

"God!  Yes!  God!"  replied  Harris,  in  the  tone  of  a  man 
who  takes  little  account  of  providential  intervention  in  the 
things  of  this  world. 

Then,  since  nobody  in  the  little  troop  knew  either  the 
country  or  its  productions,  Harris  took  a  pleasure  in  naming 
pleasantly  the  most  curious  trees  of  the  forest. 

In  truth,  it  was  a  pity  that,  in  Cousin  Benedict's  case,  the 
entomologist  was  not  supplemented  by  the  botanist!  If,  up 
to  this  time,  he  had  hardly  found  insects  either  rare  or  new, 
he  might  have  made  fine  discoveries  in  botany.  There  was, 
in  profusion,  vegetation  of  all  heights,  the  existence  of  which 
in  the  tropical  forests  of  the  Xew  "World  had  not  been  yet 
ascertained.  Cousin  Benedict  would  certainly  have  attached 
his  name  to  some  discovery  of  this  kind.  But  he  did  not  like 
botany — he  knew  nothing  about  it.  He  even,  quite  naturally, 
held  flowers  in  aversion,  under  the  pretext  that  some  of  them 
permit  themselves  to  imprison  the  msects  in  their  corollas, 
and  poison  them  with  their  venomous  juices. 

At  times,  the  forest  became  marshy.  They  felt  under  foot 
quite  a  network  of  liquid  threads,  which  would  feed  the 
affluents  of  the  little  river.  Some  of  the  rills,  somewhat 
large,  could  only  be  crossed  by  choosing  fordable  places. 

On  their  banks  grew  tufts  of  reeds,  to  which  Harris  gave 
the  name  of  papyrus.  He  was  not  mistaken,  and  those  herb- 
aceous plants  grew  abundantly  below  the  damp  banks. 

Then,  the  marsh  jiassed,  thickets  of  trees  again  covered 
the  narrow  routes  of  tlie  forest. 

Harris  made  Mrs.  Weldon  and  Dick  S;ind  remark  some 
very  fine  ebony-trees,  much  larger  than  the  common  ebony- 
tree,  which  fnnii.-li  a  wood  much  blacker  and  much  stronger 
than  that  of  commerce.  Then  there  were  mango-trees,  still 
numerous,  though  they  were  rather  far  from  the  sea.  A  kind 
of  fur  of  white  moss  climlicd  them  as  far  as  the  branches. 
'J'heir  thick  shade  and  their  delicious  fruit  made  them  jirccious 
trees,  and  meanwhile,  according  to  Harris,  not  a  native  would 
dare  to  })roj)ugate  the  species.  ""Whoever  plants  a  mango- 
tree  dies!"      Sur-h  is  the  superstitious  maxim  of  the  country. 

During  the  second  half  of  this  first  day  of  the  jouriiey,  the 
little   trooj),   after  the  mid-day  halt,   began  to  ascend    land 


VM\  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEKN. 

slicrlitly  iiu'linod.  Tlioy  wore  not  us  yot  the  slopes  of  the  chain 
ofdio"  first  iilane,  but  a  sort  of  nndulating  plateau  which  con- 
noolod  the  i>lain  with  the  mountain. 

'IMiere  the  trees,  a  little  less  compact,  sometimes  clustered 
in  _<:;roui)s,  would  have  rendered  the  march  easier,  if  tlie  soil 
had  not  been  invaded  by  herbaceous  plants.  One  might  be- 
lieve himself  in  the  jungles  of  Oriental  India.  Vegetation 
apjioarod  to  be  less  luxuriant  than  in  the  lower  valley  of  the 
little  river,  but  it  was  still  superior  to  that  of  the  temperate 
regions  of  the  Old  or  of  the  I^ew  World. 

Indigo  was  growing  there  in  profusion,  and,  according  to 
Harris,  this  leguminous  plant  passed  with  reason  for  the  most 
usur})ing  plant  of  the  country.  If  a  field  came  to  be  aban- 
doned, this  parasite,  as  much  despised  as  the  thistle  or  the 
nettle,  took  possession  of  it  immediately. 

One  tree  seemed  lacking  in  this  forest,  wliich  ought  to  be 
very  common  in  this  part  of  the  new  continent;  it  was  the 
caoutchouc-tree.  In  fact,  the  "  ticus  primoides,"  the  "cas- 
tilloa  elastica,"  the  "cecropia  peltats,"  the  "coUophora 
utilis,"  the  "cameraria  letifolia,"  and  above  all,  the  ''sypho- 
nia  elastica,"  which  belong  to  different  families,  abound  in 
the  provinces  of  South  America.  And  meanwhile,  a  rather 
singular  thing,  there  was  not  a  single  one  to  be  seen. 

Now,  Dick  Sand  had  particularly  promised  his  friend  Jack 
to  show  him  some  caouteliouc  trees.  So  a  great  deception 
for  the  little  boy,  who  figured  to  himself  that  gourds,  speak- 
ing babies,  articulate  punehinellos,  and  elastic  balloons  grew 
quite  naturally  on  those  trees.     lie  complained. 

"  Patience,"  my  good  little  man,"  replied  Harris.  ''We 
shall  find  some  of  those  caoutchoucs,  and  by  hundreds,  in  the 
neigliborhood  of  the  farm." 

"  Handsome  ones,  very  elastic?"  asked  little  Jack. 

"The  most  elastic  there  are.  Hold!  while  waiting,  do 
you  want  a  good  fruit  to  takeaway  your  thirst?"  And,  while 
speaking,  Harris  went  to  gather  from  a  tree  some  fruits, 
which  seemed  to  be  as  pleasant  to  the  taste  as  those  from  the 
peacli-tree. 

''Are  vou  very  sure,  Mr.  Harris,"  asked  j\Ir3.  Weldon, 
"  that  this  fruit  can  do  no  harm?" 

"  Mrs.  Weldon,  I  am  going  to  convince  you,"  replied  the 
American,  who  took  a  large  mouthful  of  one  of  those  fruits. 
"It  is  a  manoro." 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  137 

And  little  Jack,  witliout  any  more  pressing,  followed  Kar- 
ri's example.  He  declared  that  it  was  very  good,  "those 
pears,"  and  the  tree  was  at  once  put  under  contribution. 

Those  mango's  belonged  to  a  species  whose  fruit  is  ripe  in 
March  and  April,  others  being  so  only  in  September,  and, 
consequently,  their  mangos  were  just  in'time. 

"Yes,  it  is  good,  good,  good!"  said  little  Jack,  with  his 
mouth  full.  "  But  my  friend  Dick  has  promised  me  caoutch- 
oucs, if  I  was  very  good,  and  I  want  caoutchoucs  I" 

"You  will  have  them.  Jack,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "be- 
cause Mr.  Harris  assures  you  of  it." 

"But  that  is  riot  all,"  went  on  Jack.  "My  friend  Dick 
has  promised  me  some  other  thing!" 

"  ^Yhat,  then,  has  friend  Dick  promised?"  asked  Harris, 
smiling. 

"Some  humming-birds,  sir." 

"And  you  shall  have  some  humming-birds,  my  good  little 
man,  but  farther  on — farther  on,"  replied  Harris. 

The  fact  is  that  little  Jack  had  a  right  to  claim  some  of 
these  charming  creatures,  for  he  was  now  in  a  country  where 
they  should  abound.  The  Indians,  who  know  how  to  weave 
their  feathers  artistically,  have  lavished  the  most  poetical 
names  on  those  jewels  of  the  flying  race.  They  call  them 
either  the  "rays"  or  the  "hairs  of  the  sun."  Here,  it  is 
"the  little  king  of  the  flowers;"  there,  "the  celestial  flower 
that  comes  in  its  flight  to  caress  the  terrestrial  flower."  It  is 
again  "the  bouquet  of  jewels,  which  sparkles  in  the  fire  of 
the  day."  It  can  be  believed  that  their  imagination  would 
know  how  to  furnish  a  new  poetical  appellation  for  each  of 
tbe  one  hundred  and  fifty  species  which  constitute  this  mar- 
vellous tribe  of  humming-lnrds. 

Meanwhile,  however  numerous  these  humming-birds  might 
be  in  the  forests  of  Bolivia,  little  Jack  was  obliged  to  still 
content  himself  with  Harris's  promise.  According  to  the 
American,  they  were  still  too  close  to  the  coast,  and  the  hum- 
ming-birds did  not  like  these  deserts  so  near  the  ocean.  The 
presence  of  man  did  not  frighten  them  at  the  "hacienda;" 
they  heard  nothing  all  day  but  their  cry  of  "  teretere  "  and 
the  murmur  of  their  wings,  similar  to  tliat  of  a  sjjinning- 
wliofl. 

■•  Ah  I  how  I  should  like  to  ])e  there!"  cried  little  .Jack. 

The  surest  method  of  getting  there — to  the  "hiieienda"  of 
San  Felice — was  not  to  sto])  on  tlie  road.     Mrs.  Weldon  and 


loS  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN. 

lior  I'Dinpauions  only  took  the  time  absolutely  ncccssui-y  for 
ivpose. 

The  aspect  of  the  forest  already  changed.  Between  the 
less  crowded  trees  large  clearings  o})ened  here  and  there.  The 
sun.  ])iei'cing  the  green  carpet,  then  showed  its  structure  of 
ri'd.  syenite  granite,  similar  to  slabs  of  la[)is-lazuli.  On  some 
heights  the  sarsaparilla  abounded,  a  i)lant  with  lleshy  tu- 
bercles, which  formed  an  inextricable  tangle.  The  forest, 
with  the  narrow  i)aths,  was  better  for  them. 

Before  sunset  the  little  trooj)  were  about  eight  miles  from 
the  point  of  departure.  'J'his  journey  had  been  made  with- 
out accident,  and  even  without  great  fatigue.  It  is  true,  it 
was  the  lirst  journey  on  the  marcli,  and  no  doubt  tlie  follow- 
ing halting  i)laces  wonld  be  rougher. 

By  a  common  consent  they  decided  to  make  a  halt  at  this 
place.  The  ([ucstion  then  was,  not  to  establish  a  real  camp, 
but  to  simply  organize  a  resting-place.  One  man  on  guard, 
relieved  every  two  liours,  would  suffice  to  Avatch  during  the 
night,  neither  the  natives  nor  the  deer  being  truly  formidable. 

They  found  nothing  better  for  shelter  than  an  enormous 
mango-tree,  Avhose  large  branches,  very  bushy,  formed  a  kind 
of  natural  verandah.  If  necessary,  they  could  nestle  in  the 
branches. 

Only,  on  the  arrival  of  the  little  troop,  a  deafening  concert 
arose  from  the  top  of  the  tree. 

The  mango  served  as  a  i)ercli  for  a  colony  of  gray  parrots, 
prattling,  quarrelsome,  ferocious  birds,  which  set  npon  living 
birds,  and  those  who  would  judge  them  from  their  congeners 
which  Europe  keeps  in  cages,  would  be  singularly  mistaken. 

These  parrots  jabbered  with  such  a  noise,  that  Dick  Sand 
thought  of  firing  at  them  to  oblige  them  to  be  silent,  or  to  put 
tliem  to  flight.  But  Harris  dissuaded  him,  under  the  pretext 
that  in  these  solitudes  it  was  better  not  to  disclose  his  presence 
by  the  detoiuition  of  a  fire-arm. 

"  Let  us  pass  along  without  noise,"  he  said,  "  and  we  shall 
pass  along  without  danger." 

Su]Ji)er  was  })repared  at  once,  without  any  need  of  proceed- 
ing to  cook  food.  It  was  composed  of  conserves  and  biscuit. 
A  little  rill,  which  wound  under  the  ])lants,  furnished  drink- 
able Avater,  which  they  did  not  drink  without  improving  it 
with  a  few  drops  of  rum.  As  to  dessert,  the  mango  was 
there  with  its  juicy  fruit,  which  the  parrots  did  not  allow  to 
be  picked  without  protesting  with  their  abominable  cries. 


COrSI.V    DENEOICT   OIVIN,.    AN    A.  ..,.  M    of     ,  ,„..    an.    I.II.I.s     p.    lU.K    SAM.    AM 

HIH  OJMPA.NIONa.— Ac«  yjaj/e  lltH. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  139 

At  the  end  of  the  supper  it  began  to  be  dark.  The  shade 
rose  slowly  from  the  gi-onnd  to  the  tops  of  the  trees,  from 
which  the  foliage  soon  stood  ont  like  a  fine  tracery  on  the 
more  luminous  background  of  the  sky.  The  first  stars  seemed 
to  be  shining  flowers,  which  twinkled  at  the  end  of  the  last 
branches.  The  wind  went  down  with  the  night,  and  no 
longer  trembled  in  tlie  branches  of  the  trees.  The  parrots 
themselves  had  become  mute.  Nature  was  going  to  rest, 
and  inviting  every  hving  being  to  follow  her  in  this  deep 
sleep. 

Preparations  for  retiring  had  to  be  of  a  very  primitive  char- 
acter. 

''Shall  we  not  light  a  large  fire  for  the  night?"  Dick  Sand 
asked  the  American. 

"What's  the  good?"  replied  Harris.  "Fortunately  the 
nights  are  not  cold,  and  this  enormous  mango  will  preserve 
the  soil  from  all  evaporation.  We  have  neither  cold  nor 
dampness  to  fear.  I  repeat,  my  young  friend,  what  I  told  you 
just  now.  Let  us  move  along  incognito.  No  more  fire  than 
gunshots,  if  possible." 

"I  believe,  indeed,"  then  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "that  we  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  Indians — even  from  those  wanderers 
of  the  woods,  of  whom  you  have  sjioken,  j\Ir.  Harris.  But, 
are  there  not  other  four-footed  wanderers,  that  the  sight  of  a 
fire  would  help  to  keep  at  a  distance?" 

"  ^Irs.  Weldon,"  ro])lied  the  American,  "you  do  too  much 
honor  to  the  deer  of  this  country.  Indeed,  they  fear  man 
more  tlian  he  fears  them," 

"We  are  in  a  Avood,"  said  Jack,  "and  there  is  always 
beasts  in  the  woods." 

"  There  are  woods  and  woods,  my  good  little  man,  as  there 
are  beasts  and  beasts,"  replied  Harris,  laughing.  "Imag- 
ine that  you  are  in  the  middle  of  a  large  ])ark.  Truly, 
it  is  not  without  reason  that  the  Indians  say  of  this  country, 
'  Es  conio  el  pariso!'     It  is  like  an  eartlily  ])aradisc!" 

"  Then  there  are  serpents?"  said  Jack. 

"No,  my  Jack,"  rei)lied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "there  are  710  ser- 
pents, and  you  may  sleep  tranquilly." 

"  And  lions?"  asked  Jack. 

"  Not  the  ghost  of  a  lion,  my  good  little  man,"  replied 
Harris. 

"Tigers,  then?" 


110  A   CAPTAIN"  AT  FIFTEEN. 

"  Ask  vonv  mamma  if  she  has  ever  lieard  tell  of  tigers  on 
this  c'outinonl  ?" 

"  JS'ever/'  ro]ilie(l  IMrs.  Weklon. 

"Good!"  said  (Vnisin  l>ciiedict,  who,  by  chance,  was  listen- 
ing to  the  conversation;  "if  there  are  neither  lions  nor 
tigers  in  the  New  World,  Avliich  is  perfectly  true,  we  at  least 
encounter  cougars  and  jaguars." 

"  Are  they  bad?"  asked  little  Jack. 

"'Phe\vl"'*re])lied  Harris;  '"a  native  has  little  fear  of  at- 
tacking those  animals,  and  we  are  strong.  Stay!  Hercules 
would  be  strong  enough  to  crush  two  jaguars  at  once,  one  in 
each  hand!" 

"You  will  watch  well,  Hercules,"  then  said  little  Jack, 
"  and  if  a  beast  comes  to  bite  us " 

"It  is  I  who  will  bite  it,  Mr.  Jack!"  replied  Hercules, 
showing  his  mouth,  armed  with  superb  teeth. 

"Yes,  you  will  watch,  Hercules,"  said  the  novice,  "but 
your  companions  and  I  will  relieve  you,  turn  about.'   ' 

"Xo,  Mr.  Dick,"  replied  Acteon,  "  Hercules,  Bat,  Austin, 
and  I,  we  four  will  be  enough  for  this  labor.  You  must  rest 
the  whole  night." 

"Thank  you,  Acteon,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "but  I  ought 
to " 

"No!  let  those  brave  men  do  it,  my  dear  Dick!"  then  said 
Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  I,  also;  I  shall  watch!"  added  little  Jack,  whose  eyelids 
were  ali'eady  closing. 

"  Yes,  my  Jack,  yes,  you  will  watch!"  replied  his  mother, 
who  did  not  wish  to  contradict  him. 

"But,"  the  little  boy  said  again,  "  if  there  are  no  lions,  if 
there  are  no  tigers  in  the  forest,  there  are  wolves!" 

"  Oh!  wolves  in  jest!"  replied  the  American.  "  They  are 
not  even  wolves,  but  kinds  of  foxes,  or  rather  of  those  dogs 
of  the  woods  which  they  call  'guaras.'" 

"  And  those  fjuarns,  they  bite?"  asked  little  Jack. 

"Bah!  Dingo  Avould  make  only  one  mouthful  of  those 
beasts!" 

"Never  mind,"  replied  Jack,  with  a  last  yawn;  "guaras 
are  wolves,  because  they  are  called  wolves!" 

And  with  that  Jack  fell  asleep  peaceably  in  Nan's  arms, 
beside  the  trunk  of  the  mango.  Mrs,  Weldon,  lying  near 
her,  gave  a  last  kiss  to  her  little  boy,  and  her  tired  eyes 
quickly  closed  for  the  night. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FTFTEEX.  141 

A  few  moments  later  Hercules  brought  back  to  tlie  camp 
Cousin  Benedict,  who  had  just  gone  off  to  commence  a  chase 
for  pyrophores.  They  are  "cocuyos,"  or  luminous  flies, 
which  the  st^ylish  put  in  their  hair,  like  so  many  living  gems. 
These  insects,  vrhich  throw  a  bright  and  bluish  light  from 
two  spots  situated  at  the  base  of  their  corselet,  are  very 
numerous  in  South  America,  Cousin  Benedict  then  counted 
on  making  a  large  collection,  but  Hercules  did  not  leave  him 
time,  and,  in  spite  of  his  recriminations,  the  negro  brought 
him  to  the  halting-place.  That  was  because,  when  Hercules 
had  orders,  he  executed  them  with  military  preciseness, 
which,  no  doubt,  prevented  the  incarceration  of  a  notable 
quantity  of  luminous  flies  in  the  entomologist's  tin  box. 

A  few  moments  after,  with  the  exception  of  the  giant,  who 
was  watching,  all  were  reposing  in  a  profound  sleep. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

A   HUNDRED   MILES   IX   TWO    DAYS. 

Generally,  travelers  or  ramblers  in  the  woods,  who  have 
slept  in  the  forests  under  the  lovely  stars,  are  awakened  by 
bowlings  as  fantastic  as  disagreeable.  There  is  everything  in 
this  morning  concert:  clucking,  grunting,  croaking,  sneering, 
barking,  and  almost  "speaking,"  if  one  may  make  use  of  this 
word,  which  completes  the  series  of  different  noises. 

There  are  the  monkeys  who  thus  salute  the  daybreak. 
There  we  meet  the  little  "marikina,"  the  marmoset  Avith  a 
speckled  mask;  the  "mono  gris,"  the  skin  of  which  the 
Indians  use  to  recover  the  batteries  of  their  guns;  the 
"sagous,"  recogni7,al)le  from  their  long  bunches  of  hair,  and 
many  otiicrs,  s)»ecimens  of  this  numerous  family. 

Of  these  various  four-handed  animals,  the  most  remarkaljle 
are  decidedly  the  "gueribas,"  with  curling  tails  and  a  face 
like  Heelxelnil).  "When  the  sun  rises,  the  oldest  of  the  ])and, 
with  an  imj)osing  and  mysterious  voice,  sings  a  monotonous 
psalm.  It  is  tlie  baritone  of  the  troop.  The  young  tenors 
repeat  after  him  the  morning  synijihony.  The  Indians  say 
then  that  the  "guerillas"  recite  'ihc'w jxiter-'nosters. 

But,  on  this  day,  it  seemed  that  the  monkeys  did  not  offer 
their  prayer,  for  no  one  heard  them;  and,  meanwhile,  their 
voice  is  loud,  for  it  is  produced  by  the  rapid  viltration  of  a 


14 2  A    CATTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN". 

kind  of  bony  drnm,  formetl  by  a  swelling  of  the  hyoidcs  bono 
in  tlic  nock. 

In  short,  for  one  reason  or  for  another,  neither  the  "gucri- 
b:is,*'  nor  the  *'  sagous,"  nor  any  other  four-lianded  animals  of 
this  ijiimense  forest,  sang,  on  this  morning,  their  usual  con- 

'riiis  would  not  have  satisfied  the  Avandering  Indians.  Not 
that  these  natives  ai)])reciate  this  kind  of  strange  choral  mu- 
sic, but  they  willingly  give  chase  to  the  monkeys,  and  if  they 
do,  it  is  because  the  ilesh  of  this  animal  is  excellent,  above 
all,  when  it  is  smoke-dried. 

Dick  Sand,  of  course,  could  not  be  familiar  with  the  habits 
of  the  "gucribas,"  neither  were  his  companions,  or  this  not 
hearing  them  would  have  undoubtedly  been  a  subject  of  sur- 
l)rise.  They  awoke  then,  one  after  the  other,  much  refreshed, 
by  these  few  hours  of  repose,  Avhich  no  alarm  had  come  to 
disturb. 

Little  Jack  w'as  not  the  last  to  stretch  his  arms.  His  first 
question  was,  to  ask  if  Hercules  had  eaten  a  wolf  during  the 
night.  Xo  wolf  had  shown  himself,  and  consequently  Her- 
cules had  not  yet  breakfasted. 

All,  besides,  were  fasting  like  him,  and  after  the  morning 
in-ayer,  Xan  occupied  herself  preparing  the  repast. 

The  bill  of  fare  was  that  of  the  supper  of  the  night  before, 
but  Avith  appetites  sharpened  by  the  morning  air  of  the  forest, 
no  one  dreamed  of  being  difficult  to  please.  It  was  necessary, 
above  all,  to  gather  strength  for  a  good  day's  march,  and  they 
did  it.  For  the  first  time,  perhaps.  Cousin  Benedict  compre- 
hended that  to  eat  was  not  an  action  indiflTerent  or  useless  to 
life:  only,  he  declared  that  he  had  not  come  to  "visit"  this 
country  to  walk  witli  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  and  that,  if 
Hercules  prevented  him  from  chasing  the  "cocuyos,"  and 
other  luminous  Hies,  Hercules  would  have  some  trouble  with 
liim. 

This  threat  did  not  seem  to  frighten  the  giant  to  any  great 
extent.  However,  ]Mrs.  Weldon  took  him  aside  and  told  him 
that,  perhaps,  he  might  allow  his  big  baby  to  run  to  the  right 
and  left,  but  on  condition  that  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  him. 
It  would  not  do  to  completely  sever  Cousin  Benedict  from  the 
l)leasures  so  natural  to  liis  age. 

At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  little  troop  took  up 
their  journey  toward  the  cast,  preserving  the  order  of  march 
that  had  been  adopted  the  previous  day.     It  was  always  tho 


A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN.  1-13 

forest.  On  this  virgin  soil,  where  the  heat  and  the  moisture 
agreed  to  produce  vegetation,  it  might  well  be  thought  that 
the  reign  of  growth  appeared  in  all  its  power.  The  parallel 
of  this  vast  plateau  was  almost  confounded  with  tropical  lati- 
tudes, and,  during  certain  months  in  summer,  the  sun,  in 
passing  to  the  zenith,  darted  its  perpendicular  rays  there. 
There  was,  therefore,  an  enormous  quantity  of  imprisoned 
heat  in  this  earth,  of  which  the  subsoil  preserved  the  damp. 
Also,  nothing  could  be  more  magnificent  than  this  succession 
of  forests,  or  rather  this  interminable  forest. 

Meanwhile,  Dick  Sand  had  not  failed  to  observe  this — that, 
according  to  Harris,  they  were  in  the  region  of  the  pam])as. 
Xow,  pampas  is  a  word  i'rom  the  "quichna  "  language,  which 
signifies  a  plain.  Now,  if  his  recollections  did  not  deceive 
him,  he  believed  that  these  plains  presented  the  following 
characteristics:  Lack  of  water,  absence  of  trees,  a  failure  of 
stones,  an  almost  luxuriant  abundance  of  thistles  during  the 
rainy  season,  thistles  which  became  almost  shrubby  with  the 
warm  season,  and  then  formed  impenetrable  thickets;  then, 
also,  dwarf  trees,  thorny  shrubs,  the  whole  giving  to  these 
plains  a  rather  arid  and  desolate  aspect. 

Now,  it  had  not  been  thus,  since  the  little  troop,  guided  by 
the  American,  had  left  the  coast.  The  forest  had  not  ceased 
to  spread  to  the  limits  of  the  horizon.  No,  this  was  not  tiie 
pam])as,  such  as  the  young  novice  had  imagined  them.  Had 
nature,  as  Harris  had  told  him,  been  able  to  make  a  region 
apart  from  tlic  i)lateau  of  Atacama,  of  which  he  knew  noth- 
ing, if  it  did  not  form  one  of  the  most  vast  deserts  of  South 
America,  bctneen  the  Andes  and  the  Pacific  Ocean? 

On  that  day  Hick  Sand  propounded  some  c|uestions  on  this 
subject,  and  expressed  to  the  American  the  surprise  he  felt 
at  this  singular  ai)))earance  of  the  ])ampas. 

But  he  was  quickly  undeceived  by  Harris,  who  gave  him 
the  most  exact  details  about  this  ]>art  of  r>olivia,  tlius  Avit- 
nessing  to  his  great  knowledge  of  the  country. 

''  You  are  right,  my  young  friend,"  he  said  to  the  novice. 
"  The  true  panipa  is  indeed  sucli  as  the  l)ooks  of  travels  have 
df']»ifted  it  to  you.  tliat  is  a  plain  rather  arid,  and  the  crossing 
of  which  is  often  difficult,  it  recalls  <mr  savannahs  of  North 
America — I'xcept  that  these  are  a  little  marshy.  Yes,  sucli 
is  indeed  the  pjimpa  of  tlie  IJio  C()lorado,  such  are  the 
"llanos  "of  the  Orinoco  and  of  Venczuala.  But  here,  Ave 
are  in  a  count rv,  tlic  jipjx'anince  of  ■which  even  a.^tonishes  me. 


l-i4  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

It  is  true,  it  is  the  first  time  I  luive  followed  this  route  across 
the  i)lateau,  a  route  which  luis  the  advantage  of  shortening 
our  journey.  Hut.  if  I  have  not  yet  seen  it,  I  knoAv  that  it 
presents  an  extraordinary  contrast  to  the  veritable  panipa.  As 
to  this  one,  you  would  find  it  again,  not  between  the  Cordil- 
leras of  tlie  west  and  the  high  chain  of  the  Andes,  but  beyond 
tlie  mountains,  over  all  that  eastern  part  of  the  continent 
whii-h  extends  as  far  as  the  Atlantic. 

*'  ^lust  we  then  clear  the  Andes  range?"  Dick  Sand  asked, 
([uiekly. 

"  ISJo,  my  young  friend,  no,"'  re])lied  the  American,  smiling. 
"So  I  said:  You  would  find  it  again,  and  not:  You  will  find 
it  again,  lie  reassured,  we  shall  not  leave  this  i)lateau,  the 
greatest  elevations  of  which  do  not  exceed  fifteen  hundred 
feet.  Ah!  if  it  had  been  necessary  to  cross  the  Cordilleras 
wMth  only  the  means  of  transport  at  our  disposal,  I  should 
never  have  drawn  you  into  such  an  undertaking." 

*'In  fact,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "it  would  be  better  to  as- 
cend or  descend  the  coast." 

"Oil!  a  hundred  times  I"  replied  Harris.  "But  the  farm 
of  San  Felice  is  situated  on  this  side  of  the  Cordilleras.  So, 
then,  our  journey,  neither  in  its  first  nor  in  its  second  part, 
will  offer  any  real  difficulty." 

'*  And  you  do  not  fear  going  astray  in  these  forests,  which 
you  cross  for  the  first  time?"  asked  Dick  Sand. 

"No,  my  young  friend,  no,"  rei)lied  Harris.  "I  know  in- 
deed that  this  forest  is  like  an  immense  sea,  or  rather  like 
the  bottom  of  a  sea,  where  a  sailor  himself  could  not  take 
the  latitude  nor  recognize  liis  ])osition.  But  accustomed  to 
traveling  in  the  woods,  I  know  how  to  find  my  route  only  by 
the  inclination  of  certain  trees,  by  the  direction  of  their 
leaves,  by  the  movement  or  the  composition  of  the  soil,  by 
a  thousand  details  which  escape  you!  Be  sure  of  it,  I  will 
lead  you,  you  and  yours,  Avhere  you  ought  to  go!" 

All  these  things  were  said  very  clearly  by  Harris.  Dick 
Sand  and  he,  at  the  head  of  the  troop,  often  talked  without 
any  one  mingling  in  their  conversation.  If  the  novice  felt 
some  doubts  that  the  American  did  not  ahvays  succeed  in 
scattering,  he  preferred  to  keep  them  to  himself. 

The '8th,  0th,  loth,  11th,  and  l^th  of  April  passed  in  this 
manner,  without  anv  incident  to  mark  the  journey.  They 
did  noL  make  more  tlian  eight  to  nine  miles  in  twelve  hours. 
The  times  consecrated  to  eating  or  repose  came  at  regular  in- 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  145 

tervals,  and  though  a  little  fatigue  was  felt  already,  the  sani- 
tary condition  was  still  very  satisfactory. 

Little  Jack  began  to  suifer  a  little  from  this  life  in  the 
woods,  to  which  he  was  not  accustomed,  and  which  Avas  be- 
coming very  monotonous  for  him.  And  then  all  the  prom- 
ises which  had  been  made  him  had  not  been  kept.  The 
caoutchouc  jumping-jacks,  the  humming-birds,  all  those 
seemed  constantly  to  recede.  There  had  also  been  a  question 
of  showing  him  the  most  beautiful  parrots  in  the  world,  and 
they  ought  not  to  be  wanting  in  these  rich  forests.  AVhere, 
then,  were  the  poi)injays  with  green  plumage,  almost  all 
originally  from  these  countries,  the  aras,  with  naked  cheeks, 
with  long  pointed  tails,  with  glittering  colors,  whose  paws 
never  rest  on  the  earth,  and  the  ''camindes,"  which  are  more 
peculiar  to  tropical  countries,  and  the  many-colored  she-par- 
rots, wuth  feathered  faces,  and  finally  all  those  prattling  birds 
which,  according  to  the  Indians,  still  speak  the  language  of 
extinct  tribes? 

Of  parrots,  little  Jack  only  saw  ash-gray  jakos,  with  red 
tails,  which  abounded  under  the  trees.  But  these  jakos  were 
not  new  to  him.  They  have  transported  them  into  all  parts 
of  the  w'orld.  On  the  two  continents  they  fill  the  houses 
with  their  insupportable  chattering,  and,  of  all  the  family  of 
the  "psittacius,"  they  are  the  ones  which  learn  to  speak 
most  easil}'. 

It  must  be  said,  besides,  that  if  Jack  Avas  not  contented, 
Cousin  Benedict  was  no  more  so.  lie  had  been  allowed  to 
wander  a  little  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  during  the  march. 
However,  he  had  not  found  any  insect  which  was  fit  to  enrich 
his  collection.  Even  the  "pyrophores"  obstinately  refused 
to  show  themselves  to  him,  and  attract  him  by  the  phos- 
phorescences of  their  corselet.  Xature  seemed  truly  to  mock 
the  unhappy  entomologist,  whose  temper  w^as  becoming  cross. 

For  f(nir  days  more  the  march  tow'ard  the  northeast  Avas 
continued  in  tlie  same  way.  On  the  IGth  of  April  the  dis- 
tance traversed  from  the  coast  could  not  be  estimated  at  less 
than  one  liundrcd  miles.  If  Harris  had  not  gone  astray — and 
he  alTiriTied  it  without  liesitation — the  Farm  of  San-Felicc 
Avas  no  more  tliau  twenty  miles  from  the  halting  i)]ace  of  that 
day.  liefore  forty-eight  hours  the  little  trooj)  then  would 
have  a  comfortable  shelter  Avhere  its  members  could  at  last 
repose  from  their  fatigues. 


1iC>  A    CAPTATX    AT    IIFTKKN. 

Mcanwliilo,  thoiii:li  tlie  jihitcau  had  been  almost  entirely 
crossoil  in  its  niidillo  i>art,  not  a  native,  not  a  wanderer  liad 
boon  encountered  under  the  immense  forest. 

More  than  once,  Avilliout  saying  anything  about  it,  Dick 
Sand  regretted  being  unable  to  go  ashore  on  some  other  point 
of  the  coast.  More  to  the  south,  or  more  to  the  north,  Ail- 
lagos,  hamlets,  or  ])lantations  would  not  have  boon  lacking, 
and  long  l)ofore  this  Mrs.  AVeldon  and  her  com2)anions  would 
have  found  an  asylum. 

I^ut.  if  the  country  seemed  to  be  abandoned  by  man,  ani- 
nuds  showed  themsoives  more  fre(|uently  dui'ing  these  last 
days.  At  times  was  heard  a  kind  of  long,  plaintive  cry,  that 
Harris  attributed  to  some  of  those  large  tardi-grades,  habitual 
denizens  of  those  vast  wooded  regions,  named  "ais." 

On  that  day,  also,  during  the  mid-day  halt,  a  hissing  passed 
through  the  air,  which  made  Mrs.  AVeldon  very  uneasy,  be- 
cause it  was'  so  strange. 

**  AVhat  is  that?''  she  asked,  rising  liastily. 

*' A  serpent!"  cried  Dick  Hand,  who,  gun  in  hand,  threw 
himself  before  Mrs.  Weldon. 

They  might  fear,  in  fact,  that  some  reptile  would  glide 
among  the  jilants  to  the  halting  ])lace.  It  would  be  nothing 
astonishing  if  it  were  one  of  those  enoi-mous  "sncurus," 
kinds  of  boas,  which  sometimes  measure  forty  feet  in  length. 

But  Harris  reminded  Dick  Sand  that  the  blacks  were  al- 
ready following,  and  he  reassured  Mrs.  Weldon. 

According  to  him,  that  hissing  could  not  be  produced  by  a 
"sucuru,"  because  that  ser])ent  does  not  hiss;  but  he  indi- 
cated the  presence  of  several  inoffensive  quadrupeds,  rather 
numerous  in  that  country. 

'- Be  reassured,  then,"  said  he,  ''and  make  no  movement 
which  may  frighten  those  animals." 

''But  what  are  they?"  asked  Dick  Sand,  who  made  it  like 
a  law  of  conscience  to  interrogate  and  make  the  American 
speak — who,  however,  never  required  pressing  before  re])lying. 

"  They  arc  antelopes,  my  young  friend,"  re])lied  Harris. 

"  Oh  I  how  I  sliould  like  to  see  them!"  cried  Jack. 

"  That  is  very  difficult,  my  good  little  man,"  replied  the 
American,  "very  difficult." 

"  Perhaps  we  may  try  to  approach  them — those  hissing  an- 
telopes?" returned  Dick  Sand. 

"•  Oh!  you  will  not  take  three  steps,"  replied  the  American, 


A    CAPTAIis"   AT   FIFTEEN.  147 

shaking  his  head,  "  before  the  whole  band  will  take  flight.  1 
beg  of  yon,  then,  not  to  trouble  yourself. " 

But  Dick  Sand  had  his  reasons  for  being  curious.  He 
wished  to  see,  and,  gun  in  hand,  he  glided  among  the  herbs. 
Immediately  a  dozen  graceful  gazelles,  with  small,"sharp  horns, 
passed  with  the  rapidity  of  a  water-spout,  Their  hair,  bright 
red,  looked  like  a  cloud  of  fire  under  the  tall  underwood  of 
the  forest. 

•''  I  had  warned  you,"  said  Harris,  when  the  novice  returned 
to  take  his  place. 

Those  antelopes  were  so  light  of  foot,  that  it  had  been  truly 
impossible  to  distinguish  them;  but  it  was  not  so  with  an- 
other troop  of  animals  which  was  signaled  the  same  day. 
Those  could  be  seen — imperfectly,  it  is  true — but  their  ap- 
parition led  to  a  rather  singular  discussion  between  Harris  and 
some  of  his  companions. 

The  little  troop,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  had 
stopped  for  a  moment  near  an  o])ening  in  the  woods,  when 
three  or  four  animals  of  gi-eat  height  went  out  of  a  thicket  a 
hundred  steps  off,  and  scampered  away  at  once  with  remark- 
able speed. 

In  spite  of  the  American's  recommendations,  this  time  the 
novice,  having  quickly  shouldered  his  gun,  fired  at  one  of 
these  animals.  But  at  the  moment  when  the  charge  was 
going  off,  the  wea]ion  had  been  rapidly  turned  aside  by  Har- 
ris, and  Dick  Sand,  skilful  as  he  was,'had  missed  his  aim. 

"No  firing;  no  firingi"  said  the  American, 

"Ah,  now,  but  those  are  girafl'esi"  cried  Dick  Sand,  with- 
out otherwise  replying  to  Harris's  observation. 

"  Giraffes  I"  repeated  Jack,  standing  up  on  the  horse's  sad- 
dle.    "  Where  are  tliey,  the  large  beasts?" 

"Giraffes!"  replied' Mrs.  Weldon.  "You  are  mistaken,^ 
my  dear  Dick.     Tiiere  are  no  girafies  in  America." 

"Indeed,"  said  Harris,  who  appeared  rather  surprised, 
"there  cannot  lie  anv  giraffes  in  this  country." 

"  What,  tlien?"  said  Dick  Sand. 

"  I  really  do  not  know  what  to  think,"  replied  Harris. 
"  Have  not  yonr  eyes  deceived  you,  my  young  friend,  and  arc 
not  those  animals  more  likely  to  be  ostriches?" 

"Ostriclies:"  repeated  Dick  Sand  and  Mrs.  Weldon,  look- 
ing at  each  other  in  great  surprise. 

"  Yes,  only  ostriclies,"  repeated  Harris. 


HS  A    CATTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

"  But  oslrichcs  are  birds,"  returned  Dick  Sand,  "and  con- 
sequently they  luive  only  two  feet.'' 

"Well,"'  replied  Harris,  "I  indeed  thought  I  saw  tliat 
those  animals,  which  have  just  made  oil  so  rapidly,  were 
hipeds." 

'•  Bipeds!"  replied  the  novice. 

"  Indeed  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  saw  animals  with  four 
legs,-'  then  said  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"*'I  also,"  added  old  Tom;    then  Bat,  Acteon,  and  Austin 
confirmed  those  words. 

"Ostriches  with  four  legsl''  cried  Ilan-is,  with  a  uurst  of 
laughter.     ''That  would  be  ridiculous!" 

••So,*'  returned  Dick  Sand,  "  we  have  believed  they  were 
giraffes,  and  not  ostriches." 

"  Xo,  my  young  friend,  no,"  said  Harris.  ''  You  have 
certainly  seen  badly.  That  is  explained  by  the  rapidity  Avith 
which  those  animals  have  flown  away.  Besides,  it  has  hap- 
pened more  than  once  that  hunters  have  been  deceived  like 
vou,  and  in  the  best  faith  in  the  world." 

What  the  American  said  was  very  plausible.  Between  an 
ostrich  of  great  height  and  a  giraffe  of  medium  height,  seen 
at  a  certain  distance,  it  is  easy  to  make  a  mistake.  If  it  were 
a  question  of  a  beak  or  a  nose,  both  are  none  the  less  joined 
to  the  end  of  a  long  neck  turned  backward,  and,  strictly 
speaking,  it  may  be  said  that  an  ostrich  is  only  a  half  giraffe. 
It  only  needs  the  hind  legs.  Then,  this  biped  and  this  ([uad- 
ruped,  passing  rapidly,  on  a  sudden  may,  very  properly,  be 
taken  one  for  the  other. 

13esides,  the  best  proof  that  Mrs.  Weldon  and  the  others 
were  mistaken  was  that  there  are  no  giraffes  in  America. 

Dick  Sand  then  made  this  reflection: 
•    "  ]5ut  I  believed  that  ostriches  were  not  met  with  in  the 
Xew  World  any  more  than  giraffes." 

'•  Yes,  my  young  friend,"  replied  Harris;  "and,  indeed, 
South  America  possesses  a  peculiar  species.  To  this  species 
belongs  the  'nandon,'  which  yon  have  just  seen." 

Harris  spoke  the  truth.  The  "nandoa"  is  a  long-legged 
l)ird,  rather  common  in  the  plains  of  South  America,  and  its 
flesh,  when  it  is  young,  is  good  to  eat. 

This  strong  animal,  whose  height  sometimes  exceeds  two 
meters,  has  a  straight  beak;  wings  long,  and  formed  of  tufted 
feathers  of  a  bluish  shade;  feet  formed  of  throe  claws,  fur- 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  149 

nished  "with  nails — which  essentially  distinguishes  it  from  the 
ostriches  of  Africa. 

These  A'er}'  exact  details  were  giA'en  by  Harris,  who  appeared 
to  be  very  strongly  posted  on  the  manners  of  the  "nandons." 

Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  companions  were  obliged  to  acknowl- 
edge that  they  had  been  deceived. 

"  Besides,"  added  Harris,  "possibly  we  may  encounter  an- 
other band  of  these  ostriches.  Well,  next  time  look  better, 
and  no  longer  allow  yourselves  to  take  birds  for  quadrupeds! 
But  above  all,  my  young  friend,  do  not  forget  my  recommen- 
dations, and  do  not  fire  on  any  animal  whatsoever.  We  have 
no  need  of  hunting  to  procure  food,  and  no  detonation  of  a 
fire-arm  must  announce  our  presence  in  this  forest." 

Meanwhile  Dick  Sand  remained  pensive.  Once  more  a 
doubt  had  just  arisen  on  his  mind. 

The  next  day,  April  17th,  the  march  was  continued,  and 
the  American  affirmed  that  twenty-four  hours  would  not  pass 
before  the  little  troop  should  be  installed  at  the  Farm  of  San 
Felice. 

''There,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  added  he,  ''you  will  receive  all 
the  care  necessary  to  your  position,  and  a  few  days'  rest  will 
finite  restore  vou.  Perhaps  you  will  not  find  at  this  farm  the 
luxury  to  which  you  are  accustomed  in  your  residence  in  San 
Francisco,  but  you  will  see  that  our  imi)roved  lands  in  the 
interior  do  not  lack  what  is  comfortable.  We  are  not  abso- 
lutely savages." 

"  Mr.  Harris,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  "  if  we  have  only 
thanks  to  offer  you  for  your  generous  resort,  at  least  Ave  shall 
offer  them  to  you  with  all  our  hearts.  Yes!  It  is  time  for  us 
to  arrive  there!" 

"You  are  very  much  fatigued,  ^Irs.  Weldon?" 

"I,  no  matter!"  leplicd  Mrs.  Weldon;  "  but  I  perceive  that 
my  little  Jack  is  gradually  becoming  exhausted!  The  fever 
Ix'gins  to  affect  him  at  certain  hours!" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Harris,  "and  althoiigh  the  climate  of  this 
plateau  is  very  healthful,  it  must  l)e  acknowledged  that  in 
March  and  April  intermittent  fevers  reign." 

"  Doubtless,"  then  said  Di(;k  Sand,  "  but  also  iS'alniv,  who 
is  alwavs  and  everywhere  ])rovident,  has  put  the  remedy  near 
the  evil!" 

"  And  how  is  that,  my  young  friend?"  asked  Harris,  who 
did  not  secTu  to  understand. 


loO  A   CAI>TAIN   AT   FIFTT^EN". 

**  Avo  WO  noi,  (lien,  in  ilic  region  of  the  quinquinas?"  re- 
jilied  Dick  Sand. 

"In  fact,"  said  Karris,  ''y^^^  'ii'C  perfectly  right.  Tlie 
trees  wliicli  furnish  the  precious  febrifuge  bark  are  native 
liere." 

*•  1  am  even  astonished,''  added  Dick  Sand,  "tluit  wc  have 
not  yet  seen  a  single  one." 

"Ah!  my  young  friend,"  replied  JTarris,*  "those  trees  are 
not  easy  to  distinguisli.  Though  tliey  are  often  of  great 
lieight,  though  their  leaves  are  laige,  their  flowers  rosy  and 
odoriferous,  we  do  not  discover  them  easily.  It  is  rarely  that 
they  grow  in  groujis.  They  are  rather  scattered  through  the 
forests,  and  llie  Indians  who  collect  the  quin(|uina  can  only 
recognize  them  by  their  foliage,  always  green." 

*•  Mr.  Harris,"  said  Mrs.  "Weldon,  "  if  you  sec  one  of  those 
trees  you  will  show  it  to  me." 

"Certainly,  Mrs.  Weldon,  but  at  the  farm  you  will  find 
some  sulphate  of  quinine.  That  is  worth  still  more  to  break 
the  fever  than  the  sim})le  bark  of  the  tree." 

Formerly,  this  bark  was  only  reduced  to  powder,  which 
bore  the  name  of  "Jesuits'  Powder,"  because,  in  1649,  the 
Jesuits  of  Rome  received  a  considerable  quantity  from  their 
mission  in  America. 

This  last  day  of  the  journey  passed  without  other  incident. 
Evening  came  and  the  halt  was  oi-ganized  for  the  whole  night 
as  usual.  Till  then  it  had  not  rained,  but  the  weather  Avas 
preparing  to  chanfre,  for  a  warm  mist  rose  from  the  soil  and 
soon  found  a  thick  fog. 

They  were  touching,  in  fact,  on  the  rainy  season.  Fortu- 
nately, the  next  day,  a  comfortable  shelter  would  be  hospit- 
ably offered  to  the  little  troop.  There  were  only  a  few  hours 
to  elapse. 

Though,  according  to  Harris,  who  could  only  establish  liis 
calculation  by  the  time  which  the  journey  had  lasted,  they 
could  not  be  more  than  six  miles  from  the  farm,  the  ordinary 
jirecautions  weie  taken  for  the  night.  Tom  and  his  compan- 
ions would  watch  one  after  the  other.  Dick  Sand  insisted 
that  nothing  should  be  neglected  in  that  res])ect.  Less  than 
ever,  wovild  he  dejiart  from  his  ha})itual  prudence,  for  a  ter- 
rible suspicion  was  incrusted  in  Jiis  jnind;  but  he  did  not 
wi>h  to  say  anything  yet. 

The  retiring  to  rest  liad  been  made  at  the  feet  of  a  group 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEElf.  151 

of  large  trees.  Fatigue  aiding,  Mrs.  Weldon  and  hers  were 
already  asleep,  when'they  were  awakened  by  a  great  cry. 

'•'  Eh!  what's  the  matter?"  asked  Dick  Sand,  qnickly,  who 
was  on  his  feet  first  of  all. 

"It  is  I!  it  is  I  who  have  cried!"  replied  Cousin  Benedict. 

"And  what  is  the  matter  with  you?"  asked  Mrs.  AVeldon. 

"I  have  just  been  bit!" 

"  By  a  serpent?-'  asked  Mrs.  "W'eldon,  with  alarm. 

"]S''o.  no!  It  was  not  a  serpent,  but  an  insect,"  replied 
Cousin  Benedict.     "Ah!  I  have  it!  I  have  it!" 

"Well,  crush  vour  insect,"  said  Harris,  "and  let  us  sleep, 
Mr.  Benedict!" 

"Crush  an  insect!"  cried  Cousin  Benedict.  "Xot  so!  I 
must  see  what  it  is!" 

"Some  mosquito!"  said  Hams,  shrugging  his  shoulders. 

"No!  It  is  a  fly,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  "and  a  fly 
which  ought  to  be  very  curious!" 

Dick  Sand  had  lit  a  little  portable  lantern,  and  he  ap- 
proached Cousin  Benedict. 

"  Divine  goodness!"  cried  the  latter.  "  Behold  what  con- 
soles me  for  all  my  deceptions!  I  have,  then,  at  last  made  a 
discovery!" 

The  honest  man  was  raving.  He  looked  at  his  fly  in  tri- 
umph.     He  would  willingly  kiss  it. 

"  But  what  is  it,  then l-'""^  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"Adipter,  cousin,  a  famous  dipter!"'  And  Cousin  Bene- 
dict siiowed  a  fly  smaller  than  a  bee,  of  a  dull  color,  streaked 
with  vellow  on  the  lower  part  of  its  l)()dy. 

"  And  this  fly  is  not  venomous?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"Ko,  cousin,"^no;  at  least  not  for  man.  But  for  animals, 
for  antelopes,  for  buffaloes,  even  for  elephants,  it  is  another 
thing.     Ah!  adorable  insect!" 

"  At  last,"  asked  Dick  Sand,  "  will  you  tell  us,  Mr.  Bene- 
dict, what  is  this  fly?" 

"  This  fly,"  replied  the  entomologist,  "  this  fly  that  I  hold 
between  my  fingers,  this  fly — it  is  a  f seise!  It  is  that  famous 
dipter  tliat  is  the  hon<»r  of  a  country,  and,  till  now,  no  one 
has  evor  found  a  Ise/so  in  America!" 

Dick  Sand  did  not  dare  to  ask  Cousin  I^enedict  in  what 
part  of  the  world  this  r('d<nibtal)]e  tsefse  was  only  to  be  met. 
And  wlicn  his  companiojis,  after  tliis  incident,  had  rcturiicil 
to  thr-ir  intrTiMiptcd  sleep,  Dick  Sand,  in  spile  of  the  fatigue 
whicl)  overwhelmed  him,  did  not  close  his  eyes  the  whole  night. 


152  .  A    CAITAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE     TERKIBLE    AVORD 


It  was  time  to  arrive.  Extreme  lassitude  made  it  impossi- 
lilo  for  Mrs.  Weldon  to  continue  any  longer  a  journey  made 
under  such  painful  conditions.  Iler  little  boy,  crimson  dur- 
ing: the  fits  of  fever,  very  jiale  during  the  intermissions,  was 
pitiable  to  see.  Ilis  mother,  extremely  anxious,  had  not 
been  willing  to  leave  Jack  even  in  the  care  of  the  good  Nan. 
She  held  him,  half-lying,  in  her  arms. 

Yes,  it  was  time  to  arrive.  But,  to  trust  to  the  American, 
on  the  very  evening  of  this  day  which  was  bi^eaking — the 
evening  of  the  18th  of  April,  the  little  troop  should  finally 
reach  the  shelter  of  the  ''  hacienda  "  of  San-Felice. 

Twelve  days'  Journey  for  a  woman,  twelve  nights  passed  in 
the  open  air;  it  was  enough  to  overwhelm  Mrs.  Weldon,  ener- 
getic as  she  was.  But,  for  a  child,  it  was  worse,  and  the 
sight  of  little  Jack  sick,  and  without  the  most  ordinary  cares, 
had  sufficed  to  crush  her. 

Dick  Sand,  Nan,  Tom,  and  his  companions  had  supported 
the  fatigues  of  the  journey  better. 

Their  provisions,  although  they  were  commencing  to  get 
exhausted,  had  not  become  injured,  and  their  condition  was 
satisfactory. 

As  for  Harris,  he  seemed  made  for  the  difficulties  of  these 
long  journeys  across  the  forests,  and  it  did  not  appear  that 
fatigue  couid  affect  him.  Only,  in  proportion  as  he  neared 
the  farm,  Dick  Sand  observed  that  he  was  more  pre-occupied 
and  less  frank  in  behavior  than  before.  The  contrary  would 
have  been  more  natural.  This  was,  at  least,  the  opinion  of 
the  young  novice,  who  had  now  become  more  than  suspicious 
of  the  American.  And  meanwhile,  what  interest  could  Har- 
ris have  in  deceiving  them?  iJick  Sand  could  not  have  ex- 
plained it,  but  he  watched  their  guide  more  closely. 

The  American  probably  felt  himself  suspected  by  Dick 
Sand,  and,  no  doubt,  it  was  this  mistrust  which  made  him 
still  more  taciturn  with  ''his  young  friend." 

The  march  had  been  resumed. 

In  the  forest,  less  thick,  the  trees  were  scattered  in  groups, 
and  no  longer  formed  im])enetrable  masses.  "Was  it,  then, 
the  true  pampas  of  which  Harris  had  spoken? 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  153 

During  the  first  hours  of  the  day,  no  accident  happened  to 
aggravate  the  anxieties  that  Dick  Saud  felt.  Only  two  facts 
were  observed  by  him.  Perhaps  they  were  not  very  impor- 
tant, but,  in  these  actual  junctures,  no  detail  could  be  neg- 
lected. 

It  was  the  behavior  of  Dingo  which,  above  all,  attracted 
more  especially  the  young  man's  attention. 

In  fact  the  dog,  which^  during  all  this  journey,  had  seemed 
to  be  following  a  scent,  became  quite  different,  and  that 
almost  suddenly.  Until  then,  his  nose  to  the  ground,  gener- 
ally smelling  the  herbs  or  the  shrubs,  he  either  kept  quiet,  or 
he'made  a  sort  of  sad,  barking  noise,  like  an  expression  of 
grief  or  of  regret. 

Now,  on  this  day,  the  barking  of  the  singular  animal  be- 
came like  bursts,  sometimes  furious,  such  as  they  formerly 
were  when  Negoro  appeared  on  the  deck  of  the  "  Pilgrim." 
A  suspicion  crossed  suddenly  Dick  Sand's  mind,  and  it  was 
confirmed  by  Tom,  who  said  to  him: 

*' How  very  singular,  Mr.  Dick!  Dingo  no  longer  smells 
the  ground  as  he  did  yesterday!  His  nose  is  in  the  air,  he  is 
agitated,  his  hair  stands  up!  One  would  think  he  scented  in 
the  distance " 

"  Xegoro,  is  it  not  so?"  replied  Dick  Sand,  who  seized  the 
old  black's  arm,  and  signed  to  him  to  speak  in  a  low  voice. 

*'  Xegoro,  Mr.  Dick.  May  it  not  be  that  he  has  followed 
our  steps?" 

"  Yes,  Tom,  and  that  at  this  moment  even  he  may  not  be 
vcrv  far  from  us." 

'■'But  why?"  said  Tom. 

"  Either  Xegoro  does  not  know  this  country,"  went  on 
Dick  Sand,  "and  then  he  would  have  every  interest  in  not 
losing  sight  of  us " 

''  Or?"  said  Tom,  who  anxiously  regarded  the  novice. 

"  Or,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "  he  does  know  it,  and  then 
he " 

*'  But  how  should  Xegoro  know  this  country?  lie  has 
never  come  here!" 

"  Has  he  never  been  liere?"  murmured  Dick  Sand. 

"  It  is  an  incontestable  fact  that  Dingo  acts  as  if  this  man 
whom  he  detests  were  near  us!" 

Then,  in<f'rru])ting  himself  by  call  the  dog,  which,  after 
some  hesitation  came  to  liim: 

"  KhI"  said  he;  "  Xe^roro!  Xegoro!" 


154  A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

A  furious  liarkiniT  was  Dingo's  reply.  This  name  had  its 
usual  ollVct  upon  liim,  and  he  darted  forward,  as  if  Negoro 
liad  been  liidtlen  behind  some  thicket. 

Harris  had  witnessed  all  this  scene.  With  liis  lips  a  little 
drawn,  he  approached  the  novice. 

*'  What  did  you  ask  Dingo  tlien?"  said  he. 

"  Oh,  not  much,  Mr.  Harris,''  re])lied  old  Tom,  jokingly. 
"  We  asked  him  for  news  of  the  ship-companion  whom  we 
have  lost!" 

**  Ah!"  said  the  American,  "  the  Portuguese,  the  ship's  cook 
of  "whom  you  have  already  spoken  to  me?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Tom.  "One  would  say,  to  hear  Dingo, 
that  Negoro  is  in  the  vicinity." 

"  How  could  he  get  as  far  as  this?"  replied  Harris. 

"He  never  was  in  this  country  that  I  know  of;  at  least,  he 
concealed  it  from  us,"  re])lied  Tom. 

*'  It  would  be  astonishing,"  said  Harris.  "  But,  if  you 
wish,  we  will  beat  these  thickets.  It  is  possible  that  this  poor 
devil  has  need  of  lielp;  that  he  is  in  distress." 

"It  is  useless,  Mr.  Harris,"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "If  Ne- 
goro  has  known  how  to  come  as  far  as  this,  he  will  know  how 
to  go  farther.     He  is  a  man  to  keep  out  of  trouble." 

"  As  you  please,"  replied  Harris. 

"Let  us  go.  Dingo,  be  quiet,"  added  Dick  Sand,  briefly, 
so  as  to  end  the  conversation. 

The  second  observation  made  by  the  novice,  was  in  con- 
nection with  the  American  horse.  He  did  not  appear  to 
"feel  the  stable,"  as  do  animals  of  his  species.  He  did  not 
suck  in  the  air;  he  did  not  hasten  his  s})eed;  he  did  not  dilate 
his  nostrils;  he  uttered  none  of  the  neighings  that  indicate 
the  end  of  a  journey.  To  observe  him  well,  he  ajipeared  to 
be  as  indifferent  as  if  the  farm,  to  which  he  had  gone  several 
times,  however,  and  which  he  ought  to  know,  had  been  several 
hundreds  of  miles  away. 

"That  is  not  a  horse  near  home,"  thought  the  young 
novice. 

And,  meanwhile,  according  to  what  Hanis  had  said  the 
evening  before,  there  only  remained  six  miles  to  go,  and,  of 
these  last  six  miles,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  four  had 
been  certainly  cleared. 

Now.  if  the  horse  felt  nothing  of  the  stable,  of  which  he 
should  have  great  need,  nothing  besides  announced  the  ap- 


BERCX'I.E8  TCll-NKU  Ills  ins    I.IKl;   A   CUU,  AND   TIJK  NATIVKS    KKI  I,   WITH  TIIEIII 
BKILLB  BROKEN.— *V«7»'j/e   »U. 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN".  155 

proaches  to  a  great  clearing,  such  as  the  Farm  of  San  Felice 
must  be. 

Mrs.  ATeldon,  indifferent  as  she  then  was  to  what  did  not  con- 
cern her  child,  was  struck  at  seeing  the  countr}-  still  so  desolate. 
What!  not  a  native,  not  a  farm-servant,  at  such  a  short  dis- 
tance! Harris  must  be  wild!  Ko!  she  repulsed  this  idea.  A 
new  dela}^  would  have  been  the  death  of  her  little  Jack! 

Meanwhile,  Harris  always  kept  in  advance,  but  he  seemed 
to  observe  the  depths  of  the  wood,  and  looked  to  the  right 
and  left,  like  a  man  who  was  not  sure  of  himself — nor  of  his 
road. 

Mrs.  Weldon  shut  her  eyes  so  as  not  to  see  him. 

After  a  plain  a  mile  in  extent,  the  forest,  Avithout  being  as 
dense  as  in  the  west,  had  reappeared,  and  the  little  troop  was 
again  lost  under  the  great  trees. 

At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  they  had  reached  a  thicket, 
which  appeared  to  have  recently  given  passage  to  a  band  of 
powerful  animals.  Dick  Sand"^  looked  around  him  very  at- 
tentively. At  a  distance  which  far  surpassed  the  human 
height,  'the  branches  were  torn  off  or  broken.  At  the  same 
time  the  herbs,  roughly  scattered,  exhibited  on  the  soil,  a 
little  marshy,  prints  of  steps  which  could  not  be  those  of 
jaguars,  or  couguars. 

Were  these,  then,  the  '*ais,"  or  some  other  tardigraves, 
whose  feet  had  thus  marked  the  soil?  But  how,  then,  ex- 
plain the  break  in  the  branches  at  such  a  height? 

Elephants  might  have,  without  doubt,  left  such  imprints, 
stamped  these  large  traces,  made  a  similar  hole  in  the  impene- 
trable underwood.  But  elephants  are  not  found  in  America. 
These  enormous  thick-skinned  (piadrupeds  are  not  natives  of 
the  New  World.  As  yet,  they  have  never  been  acclimated 
there. 

The  hjTiothesis  that  elephants  had  passed  there  was  al)S()- 
lutoly  inadmissible. 

However  that  might  be,  Dick  Sand  hardly  knew  how  much 
this  inexplifuble  fact  gave  him  to  think  about. ^  He  did  not 
even  f|uef;t ion  the  American  on  this  point.  What  could  he 
expect  from  a  man  who  had  tried  to  make  him  take  giraffes 
for  ostriches?  Harris  would  have  given  him  some  exi»lima- 
tion,  more  or  less  imaginative,  whicli  would  not  have  changed 
the  situation. 

At  all  events,  Dick  had  formed  his  opinion  of  Harris.  He 
felt  in  him  a  traitor!    He  only  awaited  an  occasion  to  un- 


15G  A    CAl'TAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

mask  his  disloyalty,  to  have  the  right  to  do  it,  and  everything 
told  him  that  this  opjiortunity  Ava^  near. 

Uut  what  could  be  Harris's  secret  end?  What  future,  then, 
awaited  the  survivors  of  the  "Pilgrim?"  Dick  Hand  re- 
peated to  himself  that  his  responsil)ility  had  not  ceased  with 
tiie  shipwreck.  It  was  more  than  ever  necessary  for  him  to 
provide  for  the  safety  of  those  whom  the  waves  had  thrown 
on  this  coast!  This  woman,  this  young  child,  these  blacks — 
all  his  companions  in  misfortune — it  was  he  alone  Avho  must 
save  them!  But,  if  he  could  attempt  anything  on  board  ship, 
if  lie  could  act  on  the  sea,  here,  in  the  midst  of  the  terrible 
trials  which  he  foresaw,  what  part  could  he  take? 

Dick  Sand  would  not  shut  his  eyes  before  the  frightful  real- 
ity that  each  instant  made  more  indisputable.  In  this  Junct- 
ure he  again  became  the  captain  of  fifteen  years,  as  he  had 
been  on  the  "Pilgrim."  But  he  would  not  say  anything 
which  could  alarm  the  poor  mother  before  the  moment  for 
action  had  arrived. 

iVnd  he  said  nothing,  not  even  when,  arrived  on  the  bank 
of  a  rather  large  stream,  preceding  the  little  troop  about  one 
hundred  feet,  he  perceived  enormous  animals,  whicli  threw 
themselves  under  the  large  plants  on  the  brink. 

"  Hippopotami!  hippopotami!"  lie  was  going  to  exclaim. 

And  they  Avere,  indeed,  these  thick-skinned  animals,  with 
a  big  head,  a  large,  swollen  snout,  a  mouth  armed  with  teeth 
which  extend  a  foot  beyond  it — animals  which  are  squat  on 
their  short  limbs,  the  skin  of  wiiich,  unprovided  with  hair, 
is  of  a  tawny  red.     Hippopotami  in  America! 

They  continued  to  march  during  the  whole  day,  but  pain- 
fully. Fatigue  commenced  to  retard  even  the  most  robust. 
It  was  truly  time  to  arrive,  or  they  would  be  forced  to  stop, 

Mrs.  Weldon,  wholly  occupied  with  her  little  Jack,  did  not 
perhaps  feel  the  fatigue,  but  her  strength  was  exhausted.  All, 
more  or  less,  were  tired.  Dick  Sand,  resisted  by  a  supreme 
moral  energy,  caused  by  the  sentiment  of  duty. 

Toward  four  o'clock  in  the  evening,  old  Tom  found,  in  the 
grass,  an  object  wliich  attracted  his  attention.  It  Avas  an 
arm,  a  kind  of  knife,  of  a  particular  shape,  formed  of  a  large, 
curved  blade,  set  in  a  sf|uure,  ivory  handle,  rather  roughly 
ornamented.  Tom  carried  this  knife  to  Dick  Sand,  who  took 
it,  examined  it,  and,  finally,  showed  it  to  the  American, 
saying: 

"  No  doubt,  the  natives  are  not  very  far  off." 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  157 

"That  is  so,"  replied  Harris,  '"^and  meanwhile- 


"  Meanwhile?"  repeated  Dick  Sand,  who  now  steadily  looked 
Harris  in  the  face. 

"  We  should  be  very  near  the  farm,"  replied  Harris,  hesi- 
tatinof,  "and  I  do  not  recognize " 

*'  You  are  then  astray?"  quickly  asked  Dick  Sand. 

"Astray!  no.  The  farm  cannot  be  more  than  three  miles 
away,  now.  But,  I  wished  to  take  the  shortest  road  through 
the  forest,  and  perhaps  I  have  made  a  little  mistake!" 

"Perhaps,"  replied  Dick  Sand. 

"  I  would  do  well,  I  think,  to  go  in  advance,"  said  Harris. 

"Xo,  Mr.  Harris,  we  will  not  separate,"  replied  Dick 
Sand,  in  a  decided  tone. 

"As- you  will,"  replied  the  American.  "  But,  during  the 
night,  it  will  be  difficult  for  me  to  guide  you." 

"Xever  mind  that!"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "We  are  going 
to  halt.  Mrs.  Weldon  Avill  consent  to  pass  a  last  night  un- 
der the  trees,  and  to-morrow,  when  it  is  broad  daylight,  we 
will  proceed  on  our  journey!  Two  or  three  miles  still,  that 
will  be  an  hour's  walk!" 

"Be  it  so,"  replied  Harris. 

At  that  moment  Dingo  commenced  to  bark  furiously. 

"  Here,  Dingo,  here!"  cried  Dick  Sand.  "  You  know  well 
that  no  one  is  there,  and  that  we  are  in  the  desert!" 

This  last  halt  was  then  decided  upon. 

Mrs.  Weldon  let  her  companions  Avork  without  saying  a 
word.  Her  little  Jack  was  sleeping  in  her  arms,  made  drowsy 
by  tne  fever. 

They  sought  the  best  place  to  pass  the  night.  This  was 
under  a  large  bunch  of  trees,  where  Dick  Sand  thought  of 
disposing  all  for  their  rest.  But  old  Tom,  who  was  helping 
him  in  tliese  ])reparations,  stopped  suddenly,  crying  out: 

"Mr.  Dick!  look!  look!" 

"  What  is  it,  old  Tom?"  asked  Dick  Sand,  in  the  calm  tone 
of  a  man  who  attends  to  everything. 

"  Tliere — there!"  cried  Tom;  "  on  those  trees — blood  stains! 
— and — on  the  grf)und — mutilated  limbs!" 

Dick  Sand  rushed  toward  the  spot  indicated  l)y  old  Tom. 
Then,  returning   to  him:     "Silence,  Tom,  silence!"  said  hi'. 

Jn  fact,  there  on  the  ground  were  hands  cut,  olT,  and  above 
these  human  remains  were  several  broken  forks,  and  a  chain 
in  pieces! 


158  A   CAPTAIN   AT  PIITEEN". 

IlnpjMly,  Mrs.  AVoIdou  liad  seen  nothing  of  this  liorriblc 
spectacle. 

As  for  Harris,  he  kept  at  a  distance,  and  any  one  observing 
him  at  this  moment  wonld  liave  been  strnck  at  the  change 
made  in  liim.     His  face  liad  something  ferocious  in  it. 

Dingo  had  rejoined  Dick  8and,  and  before  these  bloody 
remains,  lie  barked  with  rage. 

The  novice  had  hard  work  to  drive  him  aAvay. 

^leanwhile,  old  Tom,  at  the  sight  of  these  forks,  of  this 
broken  chain,  had  remained  motionless,  as  if  his  feet  Avere 
rooted  in  the  soil.  His  e3'es  were  Avide  open,  his  hands 
clenched;  he  stared,  murmnring  these  incoherent  words: 

"I  have  seen — already  seen — these  forks — when  little — I 
have  seen!" 

And  no  doiibt  the  memories  of  his  early  infancy  returned 
to  him  vaguely.  He  tried  to  recall  them.  He  was  going  to 
speak. 

'*  Be  silent,  Tom!"  repeated  Dick  Sand.  "For  Mrs.  Wel- 
don's  sake,  for  all  our  sakes,  be  silent!" 

And  the  novice  led  the  old  black  away. 

Another  halting  place  was  chosen,  at  some  distance,  and  all 
was  arranged  for  the  night. 

The  repast  Avas  prepared,  but  they  hardly  touched  it. 
Fatigue  took  away  tlieir  hunger.  All  Avere  under  an  indcfina- 
Ijle  impression  of  anxiety  which  bordered  on  terror. 

Darkness  came  gradually:  soon  it  was  profound.  The  sky 
was  covered  Avith  great  stormy  clouds.  Between  the  trees  in 
the  Avestern  horizon  they  saAv  some  flashes  of  heat  lightning. 
The  wind  had  fallen;  not  a  leaf  moved  on  the  trees.  An  ab- 
solute silence  succeeded  the  noises  of  the  day,  and  it  might  be 
believed  that  the  heavy  atmosphere,  saturated  Avith  electricity, 
was  becoming  unfit  for  the  transmission  of  sounds. 

Dick  Sand,  Austin,  and  Bat  Avatched  together.  They  tried 
to  see,  to  hear,  during  this  A'cry  dark  night,  if  any  light  what- 
soever, or  any  suspicious  noise  should  sti'ike  their  eyes  or  their 
ears.  Nothing  troubled  either  the  calm  or  the  obscurity  of 
tlie  forest. 

Tom,  not  sleepy,  but  absorbed  in  his  remembrances,  his 
head  bent,  remained  quiet,  as  if  he  had  been  struck  by  some 
sudden  bloAA-. 

Mrs.  Weldon  rocked  her  child  in  her  arms,  and  only 
thougbt  of  him. 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN'.  159 

Only  Cousin  Benedict  slept,  perhaps,  for  he  alone  did  not 
suffer  from  tlie  common  impression.  His  faculty  for  looking 
forward  did  not  go  so  far. 

Suddenly,  about  eleven  o'clock,  a  prolonged  and  grave  roar- 
ing "was  heard,  with  which  was  mingled  a  sort  of  sharper 
shuddering.  Tom  stood  up  and  stretched  out  his  hand 
toward  a  dense  thicket,  a  mile  or  more  distant. 

Dick  Sand  seized  his  arm,  but  he  could  not  preyent  Tom 
from  crying  in  a  loud  voice:  "  The  lion!  the  lion!" 

This  roaring,  which  he  had  so  often  heard  in  his  infancy, 
the  old  black  had  just  recognized  it. 

"The  lion!"  he  repeated. 

Dick  Sand;  incajiable  of  controlling  himself  longer,  rushed, 
cutlass  in  liand,  to  the  place  occupied  by  Harris. 

Harris  was  no  longer  there,  and  his  horse  had  disappeared 
with  him. 

A  sort  of  revelation  took  place  in  Dick  Sand's  mind.  He 
was  not  where  he  had  believed  he  was! 

So  it  was  not  on  the  American  coast  that  the  "  Pilgrim  " 
had  gone  ashore!  It  Avas  not  the  Isle  of  Paques,  whose  bear- 
inij  the  novice  had  taken  at  sea,  but  some  other  island  situ- 
ated exactly  to  the  west  of  this  continent,  as  the  Isle  of 
Paques  is  situated  to  the  west  of  America! 

Tho  compass  had  deceived  him  during  a  part  of  the 
voyage,  we  know  why!  Led  away  by  the  tempest  over  a  false 
route,  ho  must  have  "doubled  Cape  Horn,  and  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean  he  had  passed  into  the  Atlantic!  The  speed  of  his 
ship,  which  he  could  only  imperfectly  estimate,  had  been 
doubled,  unknown  to  him,"l)y  the  force  of  the  hurricane! 

Behold  why  the  caoutchouc  trees,  the  quinquinas,  the 
products  of  South  America  Avere  missing  in  this  country, 
which  was  neither  the  plateau  of  Atacama  nor  the  Bolivian 
pampa! 

Yes,  they  were  giraffes,  not  ostriches,  which  had  fled  away 
in  the  opening!  They  were  elephants  that  had  crossed  the 
Ihifk  underwood!  They  Avcre  hipi)o])otami  whose  repose 
Dick  Sand  liad  troubled  under  llic  large  plants!  It  was  the 
Isatne,  that  dipter  picked  up  by  Benedict,  the  formidal)le 
fsetfie  which  the  animals  of  the  caravans  perish  under  its 
stings! 

Finally,  it  was,  indeed,  the  roaring  of  I  he  lion  that  had 
just  sounded  Ihroiigh  the  forest!  And  tlioso  forks,  tho.'-X' 
cliains,  that  knife  of  singular  f(jnn.  they  Averc  the  tools  of  tlie 


100  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

slave-trader!  Those  mutilated  hands,  they  were  the  hands  of 
ca})tives! 

The  l*ortnguese  Negoro,  and  the  American  Harris,  must  be 
in  collusion!  And  those  terrible  words,  guessed  by  Dick 
Sand,  finally  escaped  his  lips: 

''Africa!  Equatorial  Africa!  Africa  of  the  slave-trade 
and  the  slaves!" 


[end  of  part  I.] 


A  CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN. 


PAET  II. 


A  CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN. 

PART  II. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE     SLAVE    TRADE. 

The  slave  trade!  Xobody  is  ignorant  of  tlie  significance  of 
this  word,  whicli  should  never  have  found  a  place  in  human 
language.  This  abominable  traffic,  for  a  long  time  practiced 
to  tlie  profit  of  the  European  nations  which  possessed  colonies 
beyond  the  sea,  has  been  already  forbidden  for  many  years. 
Meanwhile  it  is  always  going  on  on  a  large  scale,  and  jirin- 
cipally  in  Central  Africa.  Even  in  this  nineteenth  century 
the  signature  of  a  few  States,  calling  themselves  Christians, 
are  still  missing  from  the  Act  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery. 

We  might  believe  that  tlie  trade  is  no  longer  carried  on; 
that  this  buying  and  this  selling  of  human  creatures  has 
ceased:  it  is  not  so,  and  that  is  what  the  reader  must  know  if 
he  wishes  to  become  more  deeply  interested  in  the  second  part 
of  this  history,  lie  must  learn  what  these  men-hunts  actually 
arc  still,  these  limits  which  threaten  to  depojnilate  a  whole 
continent  for  the  maintenance  of  a  few  slave  colonies;  whei'e 
and  how  these  barbarous  captures  are  executed;  how  much 
blood  they  cost;  how  they  provoke  incendiarism  and  iiillage; 
finally,  for  whoso  profit  tliey  are  made. 

It  13  in  the  fifteenth  century  only  that  we  see  the  trade  in 
blacks  carried  on  for  the  first  time.  Behold  under  what  cir- 
cumstances it  was  established: 


1(14  A    CAI'TAIN'    AT   Tl  lTi:i:X. 

'V\\o  ^[ussulinou,  lifter  being  oxpollod  from  Spain,  took 
refuge  hevoiul  I  lie  Struit  on  the  const  of  Africa.  TJie  Portu- 
guese, wlio  then  occupietl  tliat  part  of  the  coast,  i)uraued  tliom 
with  fury.  A  certain  number  of  those  fugitives  were  made 
])risoners  and  brougiit  back  to  Portugal,  lieduced  to  slavery, 
they  constituted  the  lirst  nucleus  of  African  slaves  which  has 
been  formed  in  Western  Europe  since  the  Christian  Era. 

Bnt  those  i\Iussulmen  belonged,  for  the  most  i)art,  to  rich 
families,  wlio  wished  to  buy  them  back  for  gold.  The  Portu- 
guese refused  to  accept  a  ransom,  liowcver  large  it  might  be. 
They  had  only  to  make  foreign  gold.  What  they  kicked  were 
the  arms  so  iudispensable  then  for  the  work  of  the  growing 
colonies,  and,  to  say  it  all,  the  arms  of  the  slave. 

The  Mussulman  families,  being  unable  to  buy  back  their 
captive  relatives,  then  olfered  to  exclumge  them  for  a  much 
larger  number  of  black  Africans,  Avhom  it  was  only  too  easy 
to  carry  off.  The  offer  was  accepted  by  the  Portuguese,  who 
found  that  exchange  to  their  advantage,  and  thus  the  slave 
trade  was  founded  in  Europe. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  this  odious  traffic 
was  generally  admitted,  and  it  ^^as  not  repugnant  to  the  still 
barbarous  manners.  All  the  States  protected  it  so  as  to 
colonize  more  rapidly  and  more  surely  the  isles  of  the  New 
World.  In  fact,  the  slaves  of  black  origin  could  resist  the 
climate,  where  the  badly  acclimated  whites,  still  unfit  to  sup- 
port the  heat  of  intertropical  climates,  would  have  perished 
by  thousands.  The  transport  of  negroes  to  the  American 
colonies  was  then  carried  on  regularly  by  special  vessels,  and 
this  branch  of  transatlantic  commerce  led  to  the  creation  of 
important  stations  on  different  points  of  the  African  coast. 
The  "merchandise"  cost  little  in  the  country  of  production, 
and  the  returns  were  considoraljlo. 

But,  necessary  as  was  the  foundation  of  the  colonics  beyond 
the  sea  from  all  jwints  of  view,  it  could  not  justify  those 
markets  for  human  flesli.  Generous  voices  soon  made  them- 
selves heard,  which  ])rotcsted  against  the  trade  in  blacks,  and 
demanded  from  the  European  governments  a  decree  of 
abolition  in  the  name  of  the  principles  of  humanity. 

In  1751,  the  Quakers  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the 
abolition  movement,  even  in  the  heart  of  that  Xorth  America 
where,  a  hundred  years  later,  the  War  of  Secession  was  to 
burst  forth,  to  which  this  question  of  slavery  was  not  a 
foreign  one.     Different  States  in  the  North — Virginia,  Con- 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   riFTEE:S".  1G5 

nGCticut.  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania — decreed  the  aholition 
of  the  slave  trade,  and  freed  the  slaves  brought  to  their  terri- 
tories at  great  expense. 

But  the  campaign  commenced  by  the  Quakers  did  not  limit 
itself  to  the  northern  provinces  of  the  Xew  World.  Slave- 
holders were  warmly  attacked  beyond  the  Atlantic.  France 
and  England,  more"  particularly,  recruited  partisans  for  this 
Just  cause.  "  Let  the  colonics  perish  rather  than  a  princi- 
ple!" Such  was  the  generous  command  which  resounded 
tlirough  all  the  Old  World,  and,  in  spite  of  the  great  political 
and  commercial  interests  engaged  in  the  question,  it  was 
effectively  transmitted  tlirough  Europe. 

The  impetus  was  given.  In  1807,  England  abolished  the 
slave-trade  in  her  colonies,  and  France  followed  her  examiile 
in  1814.  The  two  powerful  nations  exchanged  a  treaty  on 
this  subject — a  treaty  confirmed  by  Xajioleon  during  the 
Hundred  Days. 

However,  that  was  as  yet  only  a  purely  theoretical  declara- 
tion. The  slave-ships  did  not  cease  to  cross  the  seas,  and  to 
dispose  of  their  "ebony  cargoes"  in  colonial  ports. 

More  practical  measures  must  be  taken  in  order  to  put  an 
end  to  this  commerce.  The  United  States,  in  1820,  and  Eng- 
land, in  18'24:,  declared  the  slave  trade  an  act  of  piracy,  and 
those  who  practiced  it  pirates.  As  such,  they  drew  on  tliem- 
selves  the  penalty  of  death,  and  they  were  pursued  to  the 
end.  France  soon  adhered  to  the  new  treaty;  but  the  States 
of  South  America,  and  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonies, 
did  not  join  in  the  Act  of  Abolition.  The  exportation  of 
blacks  then  continued  to  their  profit,  notwithstanding  the 
right  of  search  generally  recognized,  which  was  limited  to  the 
verification  of  the  flag  of  suspicious  vessels. 

Meanwhile,  the  new  Law  of  Abolition  had  not  a  retroactive 
effect.  No  more  new  slaves  were  made,  but  the  old  ones  had 
not  yet  recovered  their  liberty. 

It  was  under  those  circumstances  that  England  set  an  ex- 
ample. In  May,  1833,  a  general  declaration  emancipated  all 
the  blacks  in  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  August, 
1838,  six  Imndred  and  seventy  thousand  slaves  were  declared 
free. 

Ten  years  later,  in  1848,  the  Republic  emancipated  the 
slaves  of  the  French  colonies,  say  about  two  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  blacks.  In  18G1,  the  war  which  broke  out 
between  the  Federals  and  C<jn federates,  of  the  United  States, 


1G6  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

fliiisliincj  (ho  work  of  emancipation,  extended  it  to  all  North 
Aiiu'rica. 

Tlie  throe  groat  ])owcrs  had  then  accomplished  this  work 
of  hiinumity.  At  the  i)resont  Jiour,  the  trade  is  no  longer 
carried  on,  excei)t  for  the  benefit  of  the  Spanisli  and  Portn- 
gucse  colonies,  and  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  the  populations  of 
the  Orient,  Turks,  or  Arabs.  Brazil,  if  she  has  not  yet  re- 
stored her  old  slaves  to  liberty,  at  least  no  longer  receives  new 
ones,  and  the  children  of  the  blacks  arc  born  free  there. 

It  is  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  in  the  prosecution  of  those 
bloody  wars,  waged  by  tlie  African  chiefs  among  themselves 
for  this  man-hunt,  that  entire  tribes  are  reduced  to  slavery. 
Two  opposite  directions  are  then  given  to  the  caravans:  one 
to  the  west,  toward  the  Portuguese  colony  of  Angola;  the 
other  to  the  cast,  on  the  ^Mozambique.  Of  these  unfortu- 
nate beings,  of  Avliom  only  a  small  portion  arrive  at  their 
destination,  some  are  exported,  it  may  be  to  Cuba,  it  may  be 
to  Madagascar;  others  to  the  Aral)  or  Turkish  provinces  of 
Asia,  to  Mecca,  or  to  Muscat.  The  English  and  French 
cruisers  can  only  prevent  this  traffic  to  a  small  extent,  as  it  is 
so  difficult  to  obtain  an  effective  surveillance  over  such  far- 
extended  coasts. 

But  the  figures  of  these  odious  exportations,  are  they  still 
considerable  r* 

Yes!  The  number  of  slaves  who  arrive  at  the  coast  is  esti- 
mated at  not  loss  than  eighty  thousand;  and  this  number,  it 
apjiears,  only  represents  the  tenth  of  natives  massacred. 

After  these  dreadful  butcheries  the  devastated  fields  are  de- 
serted, the  burnt  villages  are  without  inhabitants,  the  rivers 
carry  down  dead  bodies,  deer  occupy  the  country.  Living- 
stone, the  day  after  one  of  these  men-hunts,  no  longer  recog- 
nized the  provinces  he  had  visited  a  few  months  before.  All 
the  other  travelers — Grant,  Spoke,  Burton,  Cameron,  and 
Stanley — do  not  speak  otherwise  of  this  wooded  plateau  of 
Central  Africa,  the  principal  theatre  of  the  wars  between  the 
chiefs.  In  the  region  of  the  great  lakes,  over  all  that  vast 
country  wiiieli  feeds  the  market  of  Zanzibar,  in  Bornou  and 
Fezzan,  farther  south,  on  the  banks  of  the  Kyassa  and  the 
Zambesi,  farther  west,  in  the  districts  of  the  upper  Zaire, 
which  the  daring  Stanley  has  just  crossed,  is  seen  the  same 
spectacle — ruins,  massacres,  depopulation.  Then  will  slavery 
in  Africa  only  end  with  the  disappearance  of  the  black  race; 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  167 

and  will  it  be  "with  this  race  as  it  is  witli  the  Australian  race, 
or  the  race  in  New  HoDand? 

But  the  market  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonies 
will  close  some  da}'.  That  outlet  will  be  wanting.  Civilized 
nations  can  no  longer  tolerate  the  slave  trade! 

Yes,  without  doubt;  and  this  year  even,  1878,  ofight  to  see 
the  enfranchisement  of  all  the  slaves  still  possessed  by  Chris- 
tian States.  However,  for  long  years  to  come  the  Mussnl- 
men  nations  will  maintain  this  traffic,  which  depopulates  the 
i\irican  continent.  It  is  for  tliem,  in  fact,  that  the  most 
imjiortant  emigration  of  the  blacks  is  made,  as  the  number 
of  natives  snatched  from  their  provinces  and  brought  to  the 
eastern  coast  annually  exceeds  forty  thousand.  Long  before 
the  expedition  to  Egypt  the  negroes  of  tlie  Seunaar  were  sold 
by  thousands  to  the  negroes  of  the  Darfour,  and  reciprocally. 
General  Bonaparte  was  able  to  buy  a  pretty  large  number  of 
these  blacks,  of  whom  he  made  organized  soldiers,  like  the 
Mamelukes.  Since  then,  during  this  centuiy,  of  which  four- 
fifths  have  now  passed  away,  commerce  in  slaves  has  not 
diminished  in  Africa.     On  the  contrary. 

And,  in  fact,  Islamism  is  favorable  to  the  slave  trade.  The 
])lack  slave  must  replace  the  white  slave  of  former  times,  in 
Turkish  provinces.  So  contractors  of  every  origin  pursue 
this  execrable  traffic  on  a  large  scale.  They  thus  carry  a 
supplement  of  population  to  those  races,  which  are  dying 
out  and  will  disappear  some  day,  because  they  do  not  regen- 
erate themselves  by  labor.  These  slaves,  as  in  the  time  of 
Bonaparte,  often  become  soldiers.  With  certain  nations  of 
the  upper  Niger,  they  compose  the  half  of  the  armies  of  the 
African  chiefs.  Uncjer  these  circumstances,  their  fate  is  not 
sensibly  inferior  to  that  of  free  men.  Besides,  when  the 
slave  is  not  a  soldier,  he  is  money  which  has  circulation;  even 
in  P>gypt  and  at  Bornou,  officers  and  functionaries  are  paid 
in  that  monev.  William  Lcjer.n  has  seen  it  and  has  told 
of  it. 

Such  is,  then,  the  actual  state  of  the  trade. 

Must  it  be  added  that  a  number  of  agents  of  the  great 
European  powers  are  not  ashamed  to  show  a  deplorable  in- 
dulgence for  this  commerce.  Nevertheless,  nothing  is  truer; 
while  tlie  cruisers  watch  tlie  coasts  of  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Indian  Oceans,  the  tniflic  goes  on  regularly  in  the  interior, 
the  caravans  walk  on  under  the  e3'es  of  certain  functionaries, 


ir)S  A    (APIA IN    AT    riFTrKN. 

and  massacres,  wliore  ton  blacks  perisli  to  furnish  one  slave, 
take  i)laco  at  stated  ]ieriods! 

So  it  will  now  be  understood  how  terrible  were  those  Avoids 
just  |ironounoed  by  Dick  Sand, 

"Africa!  Equatorial  Africa!  Africa  of  slave  trades  and 
slaves!" 

And  he  was  not  deceived;  it  was  Africa  witli  all  its  dangers, 
for  his  companions  and  for  himself. 

But  on  wiiat  part  of  the  African  continent  had  an  inexpli- 
cable fatality  landed  him?  Evidently  on  the  western  coast, 
and  as  an  aggravating  circumstance,  the  young  novice  was 
forced  to  tiiink  that  the  "  Pilgrim  "  was  thrown  on  precisely 
that  part  of  the  coast  of  Angola  where  the  caravans,  which 
clear  all  that  part  of  Africa,  arrive. 

In  fact  it  was  there.  It  was  that  country  which  Cameron 
on  the  south  and  Stanley  on  the  north,  were  going  to  cross  a 
few  years  later,  and  at  the  price  of  what  efforts!  Of  this  vast 
territory,  which  is  composed  of  three  provinces,  Benguela, 
Congo,  and  Angola,  there  was  but  little  known  then  except 
the  coast.  It  extends  from  the  Noursc,  in  the  south,  as  far 
as  the  Zaire  in  the  north,  and  the  two  principal  towns  form 
two  ports,  Benguela  and  Saint  Paul  de  Loanda,  the  capital  of 
the  colony  which  set  off  from  the  kingdom  of  Portugal, 

In  the  interior  this  country  was  then  almost  nnknoAvn. 
Few  travelers  had  dared  to  venture  there,  A  pernicious 
clim;ite,  warm  and  damp  lands,  which  engender  fevers,  bar- 
barous natives,  soine  of  whom  are  still  cannibals,  a  perm;i- 
nent  state  of  war  between  tribes,  the  slave  trader's  suspicion 
of  every  stranger  who  seeks  to  discover  the  secrets  of  their 
infamous  commerce;  such  are  the  difficulties  to  surmount, 
the  dangers  to  overcome  in  this  province  of  Angola,  one  of 
the  most  dangerous  of  equatorial  Africa. 

Tuckey,  in  1816,  had  ascended  the  Congo  beyond  the  Yel- 
lala  Falls;  but  over  an  extent  of  two  hundred"  miles  at  tho 
most.  This  simple  halting-placo  could  not  give  a  definite 
knowledge  of  the  country,  and  nevertheless,  it  had  caused  the 
death  of  the  greater  part  of  the  savants  and  officers  who  com- 
posed the  expedition.  Thirty-seven  years  later,  Dr,  Living- 
stone had  advanced  from  the  Cape  of  "Good  Hope  as  far  as  the 
upper  Zambesi.  Thence,  in  the  month  of  Novemlwr,  with  a 
hardihood  which  has  never  been  surpassed,  ho  traversed  Africa 
from  the  south  to  t;he  northwest,  cleared  the  Coango,  one  of 
the  branches  of  the  Congo,  and  on  the  31st  of  May,  1854,  ar- 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  1G9 

rived  at  St.  Paul  do   Loauda.     It  was  tli3  first  view  iii  the 
unknown  of  the  great  Portuguese  Colony. 

Eighteen  years  after,  two  daring  discoverers  crossed  Africa 
from  the  east  to  the  west,  and  arrived,  one  goutli,  the  other 
north  of  Angola,  after  unheard  of  difficulties. 

The  first,  according  to  the  date,  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
English  navy,  Verney-Howet  Cameron.  In  1872,  there  was 
reason  to  fear  that  the  expedition  of  the  American,  Stanley, 
was  in  great  danger.  It  had  been  sent  to  the  great  lake  region 
in  search  of  Livingstone.  Lieutenant  Cameron  offered  to  go 
over  the  same  road. 

The  offer  was  accepted.  Cameron,  accompanied  by  Dr. 
Dillon,  Lieutenant  Cecil  Murphy  and  Robert  Moffat,  a  nephew 
of  Livingstone,  started  from  Zanzibar.  After  having  crossed 
Ougogo,  he  met  Livingstone's  faithful  servants  carrying  their 
master's  body  to  the  eastern  coast.  He  continued  his  route 
to  the  west,  with  the  unconquerable  desire  to  pass  from  one 
coast  to  the  other. 

He  crossed  Ounyanyembo,  Ougounda,  and  Kahouele,  where 
he  collected  tiie  great  traveler's  papers.  Having  passed  over 
Tanganyika,  and  the  B.imbarre  mountiiins,  he  reached  Loua- 
laba,  but  could  not  descend  its  course.  After  having  visited 
all  the  provinces  devastated  by  war  and  dci)opulated  by  the 
slave  trade,  Kilemml)a,  Ouroua,  the  sources  of  the  Lomane, 
Oulouda.  Lovale,  and  having  crossed  the  Coanza  and  the  im- 
mense forests  in  whicli  Harris  has  just  entra])ped  Dick  Sand 
and  his  companions,  the  energetic  Cameron  finally  perceived 
tlie  Atlantic  Ocean  and  arrived  a'z  Saint  Philip  of  Benguela. 
This  journey  of  three  years  and  four  months  had  cost  the 
lives  of  iiis  two  companions.  Dr.  Dillon  and  Ilobert  Moffat. 

Henry  Moreland  Stanley,  tlie  American,  almost  immedi- 
ately succeeded  tlie  Englishman,  Cameron,  on  the  road  of 
discoveries.  We  know  that  this  intrepid  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Herald,  sent  in  search  of  Livingstone,  had  found 
him  on  October  30th,  1871,  at  Oiijiji,  on  Lake  Tanganyika. 
Having  so  happily  accomplished  his  object  for  the  sake  of  hu- 
manity, Stanley  determined  to  pursue  his  journey  in  the 
interest  of  geographical  science.  His  object  ihen  was  to  goin 
a  complete!  knowledge  of  Loualaba,  of  which  he  had  only  had 
a  glim  I  ISC. 

(Janicroti  was  then  lost  in  the  }iroviii(;es  of  Central  Africa, 
when,  in  November,  1H74,  Stanley  (|iiitted  Bagamoga.  on  the 
eastern  coast.     Twenty-one  months  after,  August  24th,  187'i, 


170  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

lio  ab.'indoiiod  Oiijiji,  -tt'lncli  was  decimated  by  an  epidemic  of 
small-])ox.  In  seventy-four  days  lie  ellceted  the  passage  of 
tl»e  lake  at  >;'yang\ve,  a  great  slave  market,  which  had  been 
already  visited  by  Livingstone  and  Cameron,  Here  he  wit- 
nessed the  most  liorrible  scenes,  i)racticed  in  the  ]\laroungou 
ami  Manyotiema  countries  by  the  oflicers  of  the  .Sultan  of 
Zanzibar. 

Stanle}'  then  took  measures  to  explore  the  course  of  the 
Loualaba  and  to  descend  it  as  far  as  its  mouth.  One  hundred 
and  forty  bearers,  engaged  at  N'yangwe,  and  nineteen  boats, 
formed  the  material  and  the  force  of  his  expedition. 

From  the  very  start  he  had  to  fight  the  cannibals  of  Ou- 
gouson.  From  the  start,  also,  he  had  to  attend  to  the  carry- 
ing of  boats,  so  as  to  pass  insuperable  cataracts. 

tinder  the  equator,  at  the  point  where  the  Loualaba  makes 
a  bend  to  the  northeast,  fifty-four  boats,  manned  by  several 
hundred  natives,  attacked  Stanley's  little  fleet,  which  suc- 
ceeded in  i)utting  them  to  flight.  Then  the  courageous 
American,  reascending  as  far  as  the  second  degree  of  northern 
latitude,  ascertained  that  the  Loualaba  was  the  upper  Zaire, 
or  Congo,  and  that  by  following  its  course  he  could  descend 
directly  to  the  sea. 

I'his  lie  did.  fighting  nearly  every  day  against  the  tribes 
that  lived  near  the  river.  On  June  3d,  1877,  at. the  passage 
of  the  cataracts  of  IMas-sassa,  lie  lost  one  of  his  companions, 
Francis  Pocock.  July  18th  he  Avas  drawn  with  his  boat  into 
the  falls  of  M'belo,  and  only  escaped  death  by  a  miracle. 

Finally,  August  6th,  Henry  Stanley  arrived  at  the  village 
of  iS'i-.Sanda,  four  days'  journey  from  the  coast.  Two  days 
after,  at  Banza-il'bouko,  he  found  the  provisions  sent  by 
two  merchants  from  Emboma. 

He  finally  rested  at  this  little  coast  town,  aged  at  thirty- 
five  years,  by  over-fatigue  and  privations,  after  an  entire  pas- 
sage of  the  Afi'ican  continent,  which  had  taken  two  years  and 
nine  months  of  his  life. 

However,  the  course  of  the  Loualaba  was  explored  as  far  as 
the  Atlantic;  and  if  the  Nile  is  the  great  artery  of  the  Korth, 
if  the  Zambesi  is  the  great  artery  of  the  East,  we  now  know 
that  Africa  still  possesses  in  the  AVest  the  third  of  the  largest 
rivers  in  the  world — a  river  which,  in  a  course  of  two  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  miles,  under  the  names  of  Loualaba,  Zaire, 
and  Congo,  unites  the  lake  region  with  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

However,  between  these  two  books  of  travel — Stanley's  and 


)I''K   HANIl.    IlKAVn.'i    I   HAINKII,    WAS   LKhT  H.N    Illi;  KU/OU  '<!■    A    I 


■i..s.— .-<  y"'t/'  '-'11 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  171 

Cameron's — the  province  of  Angola  is  somewhat  better  known 
in  this  year  than  in  1873,  at  that  period  when  the  ''  Pilgrim  " 
was  lost  on  the  African  coast.  It  was  well  known  that  it  was 
the  seat  of  the  western  slave-trade,  thanks  to  its  important 
markets  of  Bihe,  Cassange,  and  Kazounde. 

It  was  into  this  country  that  Dick  Sand  had  been  drawn, 
more  than  one  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  with  a  woman 
exhausted  by  fatigue  and  grief,  a  dying  child,  and  some  com- 
panions of  African  descent,  the  pre}-,  as  everything  indicated, 
to  the  rapacity  of  slave  merchants.  " 

Yes,  it  was  Africa,  and  not  that  America  where  neither 
the  natives,  nor  the  deer,  nor  the  climate  are  very  formidable. 
It  was  not  that  favorable  region,  situated  between  the  Cor- 
dilleras and  the  coast,  where  straggling  villages  abound,  and 
where  missions  are  hospitably  opened  to  all  travelers. 

They  were  far  away,  those'  provinces  of  Peru  and  Bolivia, 
where  the  tempest  would  have  surely  carried  the  "Pilgrim," 
if  a  criminal  hand  had  not  changed  its  course,  where  the  ship- 
wrecked ones  would  have  found  so  many  facilities  for  return- 
ing to  their  country. 

It  was  the  terrible  Angola,  not  even  that  part  of  the  coast 
inspected  by  the  Portuguese  authorities,  but  the  interior  of 
the  colony,  which  is  crossed  by  caravans  of  slaves  under  the 
whip  of  the  driver. 

What  did  Dick  Sand  know  of  this  country  where  treason 
had  thrown  him?  Ver}-  little,  what  the  missionaries  of  the 
fiixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  had  said  of  it;  what  the 
Portuguese  merchants,  who  frequented  the  road  from  Saint 
Paul  de  Loanda  to  the  Zaire,  by  way  of  San  Salvador,  knew 
of  it;  what  Dr.  Livingstone  had  written  about  it,  after  his 
journey  of  1853,  and  that  would  have  been  suflBcient  to  over- 
whelm a  soul  less  strong  than  his. 

Truly,  the  situation  was  terrible. 


173  A   CAFTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN'. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HARKIS  AND  NEGORO. 

The  day  after  that  on  which  Dick  Sand  and  his  compan- 
ions had  established  their  last  luilt  in  the  forest,  two  men 
mot  together  about  three  miles  from  there,  us  it  had  been 
proviously  arranged  between  them. 

These  two  men  were  Harris  and  Negoro;  and  wo  arc  going 
to  see  now  what  chance  had  brought  together,  on  the 
coast  of  Angola,  the  Portuguese  come  from  New  Zealand, 
and  the  American,  whom  the  business  of  trader  obliged  to 
often  traverse  this  proAMuce  of  AYestern  Africa. 

Harris  and  Xegoro  were  seated  at  the  foot  of  an  enormous 
banian,  on  the  steep  bank  of  an  impetuous  stream,  which  ran 
between  a  double  hedge  of  papyrus. 

The  conversation  commenced,  for  the  Portuguese  and  the 
American  had  just  met,  and  at  first  they  dwelt  on  the  deeds 
which  had  been  accomplished  during  these  last  hours. 

''  And  so,  Harris,"  said  Kegoro,  "  you  have  not  been  able 
to  draw  this  little  troop  of  Captain  Sand,  as  they  call  this 
novice  of  fifteen  years,  any  farther  into  Angola?" 

"No,  comrade,"  replied  Harris;  "and  it  is  even  astonish- 
ing that  I  have  succeeded  in  leading  him  a  hundred  miles  at 
least  from  the  coast.  Several  days  ago  my  young  friend,  Dick 
Sand,  looked  at  me  with  an  anxious  air,  his  suspicions  gradu- 
ally changed  into  certainties — and  faith " 

"  Anotiier  hundred  miles,  Harris,  and  those  people  would 
be  still  more  surely  in  our  hands!  However,  they  must  not 
escape  us!" 

"Ah!  How  could  they?"  replied  Harris,  shrugging  his 
shoulders.  "  I  repeat  it,  Negoro,  there  was  only  time  to  part 
company  with  them.  Ten  times  have  I  read  in  my  young 
friend's  eyes  that  he  was  tempted  to  send  a  ball  into  my 
breast,  and  I  have  too  bad  a  stomach  to  digest  those  prunes 
which  weigh  a  dozen  to  the  pound." 

"  Good!"  returned  Negoro;  "  I  also  have  an  account  to  set- 
tle with  this  novice." 

"And  you  shall  settle  it  at  your  ease,  with  interest,  com- 
rade. As  to  me,  during  the  first  three  days  of  the  journey 
1  succeeded  very  well  in  making  him  take  this  province  for 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  173 

the  Desert  of  Atacama,  which  I  visited  formerl)'.  But  the 
child  claimed  his  caoutchoucs  and  his  humming  birds.  The 
mother  demanded  her  quinquinas.  The  cousin  was  crazy  to 
find  cocuyos.  Faith,  I  was  at  the  end  of  my  imagination, 
and  after  with  great  difficulty  making  them  swallow  ostriches 
for  giraffes — a  god-seud,  indeed.  Xegorol  —I  no  longer  knew 
what  to  invent.  Besides,  I  well  saw  thac  my  young  friend 
no  longer  accepted  my  explanations.  Then  we  fell  on  ele- 
phants' prints.  The  hii)popotami  were  r.dded  to  the  party. 
And  you  know,  Xegoro,  hippopotami  and  elephants  in  Amer- 
ica are  like  honest  men  in  the  penitentiaries  of  Benguela. 
Finally,  to  finish  me,  there  was  the  old  black,  who  must  find 
forks  and  chains  at  the  foot  of  a  tree.  Slaves  had  freed  them- 
selves from  tliem  to  flee.  At  the  same  moment  the  lion 
roared,  starting  the  company,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  pass  off 
that  roaring  for  the  mewing  of  an  inoffensive  cat.  I  then 
had  only  time  to  spring  on  my  horse  and  make  my  way 
here." 

"1  understand,"  replied  Xegoro.  "Nevertheless,  I  would 
wish  to  hold  them  a  hundred  miles  further  in  the  province."' 

*' One  does  what  he  can,  comrade,"  replied  Harris.  "As 
to  you,  who  followed  our  caravan  from  the  coast,  you  have 
done  well  to  keep  your  distance.  They  felt  you  were  there. 
There  is  a  certain  Dingo  that  doos  not  seem  to  love  you. 
What  have  you  done  to  that  animal?" 

"Xothing,"  replied  Xegoro;  "but  before  long  it  will  re- 
ceive a  ball  in  the  head." 

"  As  you  would  have  received  one  from  Dick  Sand,  if  you 
had  shown  ever  so  little  of  your  person  within  two  hundred 
feet  of  his  gun.  Ah!  how  well  he  fires,  my  young  fj-iend; 
and,  between  you  and  me,  I  am  obliged  to  admit  that  he  is, 
in  his  way,  a  fine  boy." 

"  No  matter  how  fine  he  is,  Harris,  he  will  pay  dear  for  his 
insolence,"  replied  Xegoro,  whose  countenance  expressed  im- 
])lacable  cruelty. 

"Good,"  murmured  Harris,  "my  comrade  remains  just 
the  same  as  I  have  always  known  him!  Voyages  have  not  in- 
jured liitn!" 

Thou,  lifter  a  moment's  silence:  "  Ah,  Ihcre,  Negoro,"  con- 
tinued he,  "when  I  met  you  so  fortiinalciy  there  below,  at 
the  scene  of  the  shij) wreck,  at  the  mouth  of  ihc  Longa,  you 
only  had  time  to  recotnrn(n<l  tliose  honest  people  to  nic,  wliilf 


174  A    CAPTAIN   AT  FJPTEEN. 

bogpinc;  mo  to  lead  tlioiu  us  far  iis  possible  across  tbis  pro- 
tended Bolivia.  You  bave  not  told  me  wluit  you  bave  been 
doing  tbese  two  years!  Two  years,  comrade,  in  our  cbanco 
existence,  is  a  long  time.  One  fine  day,  after  baving  taken 
ciiarge  of  a  caravan  of  slaves  on  old  Alvez's  account — wbose 
very  bumble  agents  we  are — you  left  Cassange,  and  bave  not 
been  beard  of  since!  I  bave  tbougbt  tbat  you  bad  some  disa- 
greement witli  tbe  Englisb  cruiser,  and  tbat  you  were 
bung!"' 

'*  I  came  very  near  it,  Harris." 

''  Tbat  will  come,  Negoro." 

"Tbankyou!" 

"  Wbat  would  you  bave?"  replied  Harris,  witb  an  indiffer- 
ence quite  pbilosopbical;  **  it  is  one  of  tbe  clianccs  of  tbe 
trade!  We  do  not  carry  on  tbe  slave  trade  on  tbe  coast  of 
Africa  witbout  running  tbe  risk  of  dying  elsewbere  tban  in 
our  beds!     So,  you  bave  been  taken?" 

'•'  Yes!" 

"By  tbe  Englisb?" 

*'Xo!     By  tbe  Portuguese." 

"Before  or  after  baving  delivered  your  cargo?"  asked 
Harris, 

"  After ,"  replied  Xegoro,  wbo  bad  besitated  a  little 

about  replying.  "Tbese  Portuguese  now  make  difficulties. 
Tbey  w^ant  no  more  slavery,  tbougb  tbey  have  used  it  so  long 
to  tbeir  profit.  I  was  denounced — watcbed.  Tbey  took 
me " 

"  And  condemned " 


"  Me  to  finish  my  days  in  tbe  penitentiary  of  Saint  Paul  de 
Loanda." 

"A  thousand  devils!"  exclaimed  Harris.  "That  is  an 
unhealthy  place  for  men  accustomed,  like  us,  to  live  in  the 
ojien  air.     As  to  me,  pcrba])s  I  should  prefer  being  bung." 

"  One  does  not  escape  from  the  gallows,"  replied  Negoro; 
"  but  from  prison " 

"You  were  able  to  make  your  escape?" 

"  Y'es,  Harris.  Only  fifteen  days  after  being  put  in  prison, 
I  was  able  to  bide  myself  at  tbe  bottom  of  tbe  hold  of  an 
Englisb  steamer,  sailing  for  Auckland,  of  Isew  Zealand.  A 
barrel  of  water  and  a  case  of  conserves,  between  which  I  bad 
intruded,  furnished  me  witb  f(j()d  and  drink  during  the  whole 
passage.  Ob!  I  suffered  terribly,  from  not  being  willing  to 
Lhow  myself  when  wo  were  at  sea.     But,  if  I  had  been  im- 


A    CAPTAIX    AT    PIFTEEX.  175 

prudent  enoiigli  to  do  it,  I  would  have  been  confined  again 
at  the  bottom  of  the  hold,  and,  voluntarily  or  not,  the  tort- 
ure would  he  the  same.  Besides,  on  my  arrival  at  Auckland, 
they  would  have  returned  me  again  to  the  English  authori- 
ties, and  finally  brought  me  back  to  the  penitentiary  of  Lo- 
anda,  or,  perhaps,  hung  me,  as  you  said.  That  was  why  I 
preferred  to  travel  incognito." 

"And  without  paying  your  passage!"  exclaimed  Harris, 
laughing.  ''Ah!  that  is  not  considerate,  comrade,  to  be  fed 
and  carried  gratis!" 

"  Yes,"  returned  Xegoro,  "but  thirty  days'  passage  at  the 
bottom  of  the  hold " 

"  At  last  that  was  over,  Xegoro.  You  set  out  for  Xew 
Zealand,  in  the  land  of  the  iMaoris.  But  you  have  returned. 
AVas  the  return  made  under  the  same  circumstances?" 

"  Not  so,  Harris.  Y'ou  may  well  believe  that,  over  there, 
I  had  only  one  idea — to  return  to  Angola  and  take  up  my 
trade  of  slave-trader  again." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Harris,  "  one  loves  his  trade — from  habit." 

"For  eighteen  months " 

Having  pronounced  those  last  words,  Xegoro  stopped  sud- 
denly.    He  seized  his  companion's  arm,  and  listened. 

"  Harris,"  said  he,  lowering  his  voice,  "  was  there  not  a 
trembling  in  that  papyrus  bush?" 

"Y'^es,  indeed,"  replied  Harris,  seizing  his  gun,  always 
ready  to  fire. 

Xegoro  and  he  stood  up,  looked  around  them,  and  listened 
with  the  greatest  attention. 

"  There  is  nothing  there,"  said  Harris.  "  It  is  this  brook, 
swelled  by  the  storm,  which  runs  more  noisily.  For  two 
years,  comrade,  you  have  been  unaccustomed  to  the  noises  of 
the  forest,  ))ut  you  Avill  get  used  to  them  again.  Continue, 
then,  the  narration  of  your  adventures.  AVhen  I  understand 
the  past,  we  shall  talk  of  the  future." 

Xegoro  and  Harris  sat  down  again  at  the  foot  of  the  ban- 
yan.    Tlie  Portuguese  continued,  in  these  terms: 

"  For  eigliteen  months  I  vegetated  in  Auckland.  AVhen 
the  steamer  arrived  there  I  was  able  to  leave  it  without  being 
seen;  but  not  a  piastre,  not  a  dollar  in  my  pocket!  In  order 
to  live  I  had  to  foUow  all  trades " 

"  p]ven  the  trade  of  an  honest  man,  Xegoro?" 

"tNs  you  sav,  Harris." 

"Poor  boy!" 


17G  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

"Xow,  I  was  always  waiting  for  an  opportunity,  which 
was  long  coming,  wlion  the  '  Pilgrim/  a  wlialcr,  arrived  at 
the  port  of  Auckland." 

*'  That  vessel  which  went  ashore  on  the  coast  of  Angola?" 

"■  Even  the  same,  Harris,  and  on  which  Mrs.  Weldon,  her 
child,  and  lier  cousin,  were  going  to  take  passage.  Now,  as 
an  old  sailor,  having  even  been  second  on  board  a  slave  ship, 
I  was  not  out  of  my  element  in  taking  service  on  a  ship.  I 
then  presented  myself  to  the  'Pilgrim's'  captain,  but  the 
crew  was  made  up.  Very  fortunately  for  me,  the  schooner's 
cook  had  deserted.  Now,  he  is  no  sailor  who  does  not  know 
iiow  to  cook.  I  offered  myself  as  head  cook.  For  want  of  a 
better,  I  was  accepted.  A  few  days  after,  the  '  Pilgrim '  had 
lost  sight  of  the  land  of  New  Zealand." 

*•  But,"  asked  Harris,  ''  according  to  what  my  young 
friend  has  told  me,  the  *  Pilgrim  did  not  set  sail  at  all  for 
the  coast  of  Africa.     How  then  has  she  arrived  liere?" 

''Dick  Sand  ought  not  to  be  able  to  understand  it  yet,  and 
])erhaps  he  will  never  understand  it,"  replied  Negoro;  "  but 
I  am  going  to  explain  to  you  what  has  passed,  Harris,  and 
you  will  be  able  to  tell  it  again  to  your  young  friend,  if  it 
pleases  you  to  do  so." 

"  How,  then?"  replied  Harris.      "Speak,  comrade,  speak!" 

"  The  '  Pilgrim,'  "  continued  Negoro,  "  was  on  the  way  to 
Valparaiso.  When  I  went  on  board,  I  only  intended  to  go 
to  Chili.  It  was  always  a  good  half  of  the  way  between  New 
Zealand  and  Angola,  and  1  was  drawing  nearer  Africa's 
coast  by  several  thousand  miles.  But  it  so  happened  that 
only  three  weeks  after  leaving  Auckland,  Captain  Hull,  who 
commanded  the  'Pilgrim,'  disappeared  with  all  his  crew, 
while  chasing  a  whale.  On  that  day,  then,  only  two  sailors 
remained  on  board — the  novice  and  the  cook,  Negoro." 

"  And  you  took  command  of  the  ship?''  asked  Harris. 

"I  had  that  idea  at  first,  but  I  saw  that  they  distrusted 
me.  There  were  five  strong  blacks  on  board,  free  men.  I 
would  not  have  been  the  master,  and,  on  reflection,  I  re- 
mained what  I  was  at  the  departure — the  'Pilgrim's'  cook." 

"  Then  it  was  chance  that  led  this  ship  to  the  coast  of 
.Vfrica?" 

"  No,  Harris,"  replied  Xegoro;  "  there  has  been  no  chance 
in  all  this  adventure  oxcei)t  meeting  you,  in  one  of  your 
journeys,  just  on  that  part  of  the  coast  where  the  'I'ilgrim' 
was  wrecked.     But  as  to  coming  in  sight  of  Angola,  it  waa 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  177 

by  my  will,  m}'  secret  will,  that  that  was  done.  Your  young 
friend,  still  much  of  a  novice  in  navigation,  could  only  tell 
his  position  by  means  of  the  log  and  the  compass.  "Well,  one 
day,  the  log  went  to  the  bottom.  One  night  the  compass 
Avas  made  false,  and  the  *  Pilgrim,'  driven  by  a  violent  tem- 
pest, took  the  wrong  route.  The  length  of  tiie  voyage,  inex- 
plicable to  Dick  Sand,  would  be  the  same  to  the  most  experi- 
enced seaman.  Without  the  novice  knowing  or  even  suspect- 
ing it,  Gape  Horn  was  doubled,  but  I,  Harris,  I  recognized  it 
in  the  midst  of  the  fogs.  Then,  thanks  to  me,  the  needle  in 
the  compass  took  its  true  direction  again,  and  the  ship,  blown 
to  the  northeast  by  that  frightful  hurricane,  has  just  been 
cast  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  just  on  this  land  of  Angola  which 
I  wished  to  rejich." 

"And  even  at  that  moment,  Negoro,"  replied  Harris, 
"  chance  had  led  me  there  to  receive  you,  and  guide  those 
honest  people  to  the  interior.  They  believed  themselves — 
they  could  only  believe  themselves  in  America.  It  was  easy 
for  me  to  make  them  take  this  province  for  lower  Bolivia,  to 
which  it  has  really  some  resemblance.'"' 

"  Yes,  they  believed  it,  as  your  young  friend  believed  they 
had  made  the  Isle  of  Paques,  when  they  passed  in  sight  of 
Tristan  d'Acunha." 

"Anybody  would  be  deceived  by  it,  Xegoro." 

"  I  know  it,  Harris,  and  I  even  counted  on  profiting  by  that 
error.  Finally,  behold  Mrs.  "Weldon  and  her  companions  one 
hundred  miles  in  the  interior  of  this  Africa,  where  I  wanted 
to  bring  them  I" 

"  But,'*'  replied  Harris,  "  they  know  now  where  they  are." 

'•'All!  what  matter  at  present!"  cried  Xcgoro. 

"  And  what  will  you  do  with  them?"  asked  Harris. 

"What  will  I  do  with  them?"  replied  Xegoro.  "Before 
telling  you,  Harris,  give  me  news  of  our  master,  the  slave- 
trader,  Alvez,  whom  I  have  not  seen  for  two  years." 

"  Oh,  tlie  old  rascal  is  remarkably  Avell,"  replied  Harris, 
"  and  he  will  be  enchanted  to  see  you  again." 

"Is  he  at  the  Bihe  market?"  asked  ^Negoro, 

"Xo,  comrade,  he  has  been  at  his  establishment  at  Ka- 
zoundo,  for  a  year." 

"  And  business  is  lively?" 

"Yes,  a  tliousand  devils!"  exclaimed  Harris,  "althougli 
the  slave-trade  becomes  more  and  more  dillicult,  at  least  on 


178  A    CAPTAIN^   AT   FIFTEEN. 

this  coast.  The  Portuguese  authorities  on  one  side,  and  the 
English  cruisers  on  the  other,  limit  exportations.  There  are 
few  places,  except  in  the  environs  of  Mossaniedes,  to  the  soutli 
of  Angola,  that  the  shij)ping  of  blacks  can  now  be  made  with 
any  chance  of  success.  ISo,  at  this  time,  the  pens  are  filled 
with  slaves,  waiting  for  the  shi})s  Avhich  ought  to  carry  them  to 
Spanish  colonies.  As  to  passing  them  by  Benguela,  or  Saint 
Paul  de  Loanda,  that  is  not  jiossible.  The  governors  no 
longer  understand  reason,  no  more  do  the  chiefs  (title  given 
to  the  Portuguese  governors  of  secondary  establisliments). 
We  must,  then,  return  to  the  factories  of  the  interior.  This 
is  what  old  Alvez  intends  to  do.  He  will  go  from  the  Ny- 
angwe  and  Tanganyika  side  to  change  his  stuffs  for  ivory  and 
slaves.  Business  is  always  profitable  with  upper  Egypt  and 
the  Mozambique  coast,  which  furnishes  all  ]\1  ad agascar.  But 
I  fear  the  time  will  come  when  the  trade  can  be  no  longer 
carried  on.  The  English  are  making  great  progress  in  the 
interior  of  Africa.  The  missionaries  advance  and  work 
against  us.  That  Livingstone,  curse  him,  after  exploring  the 
lake  region,  is  going,  they  say,  to  travel  toward  Angola„ 
Then,  they  speak  of  a  Lieutenant  Cameron,  who  proposes  to 
cross  the  continent  from  east  to  "west.  They  also  fear  that 
the  American,  Stanley,  wishes  to  do  as  much.  All  these  visits 
will  end  by  damaging  our  operations,  Kegoro,  and  if  we  care 
for  our  own  interests,  not  one  of  those  visitors  will  return  to 
relate  in  Europe  what  he  has  had  the  indiscretion  to  come  to 
see  in  Africa." 

"Would  not  one  say,  to  hear  them,  the  rascals,  that  they 
were  speaking  like  honest  merchants  whose  aifairs  were  mo- 
mentarily cramped  by  a  commercial  crisis?  Who  would 
believe  that,  instead  of  sacks  of  coffee  or  casks  of  sugar,  they 
were  talking  of  human  beings  to  export  like  merchandise? 
These  traders  have  no  other  idea  of  right  or  wrong.  The 
moral  sense  is  entirely  lacking  in  them,  and  if  they  had  any, 
how  quickly  they  would  lose  it  among  the  frightful  atrocities 
of  the  African  slave  trade. 

But  where  Harris  was  right,  was  when  he  said  that  civiliza- 
tion was  gradually  penetrating  those  savage  countries  in  the 
wake  of  tliose  hardy  travelers,  whose  names  are  indissolubly 
linked  to  the  discoveries  of  Equatorial  Africa.  At  the  head, 
David  Livingstone,  after  him.  Grant,  Speke,  Burton,  Cam- 
eron, Stanley,  those  heroes  will  leave  imperishable  names  as 
benefactors  of  humanity. 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  1T9 

When  their  conversation  reached  that  point,  Harris  knew 
■what  the  last  two  years  of  Xegoro's  hfe  had  been.  The  trader 
Alvez's  old  agent,  the  escaped  prisoner  from  the  Loanda  pen- 
itentiary, reappeared  the  same  as  Harris  had  always  known 
him,  that  is,  ready  to  do  anything.  Bnt  what  plan  Js'egoro 
intended  to  take  in  regard  to  the  shipwrecked  from  the 
"  Pilgrim,"  Harris  did  not  yet  know.  He  asked  his  accom- 
plice about  it. 

"And  now,"  said  he,  "what  are  you  going  to  do  with 
those  people?" 

"  I  shall  make  two  parties  of  them,"  replied  Xegoro,  like  a 
man  whose  jilan  had  been  long  formed;  "  those  whom  I  shall 
sell  as  slaves,  and  those  whom " 

The  Portuguese  did  not  finish,  but  his  ferocious  physiog- 
nomy spoke  plainly  enough. 

"Which  will  you  sell?"  asked  Harris. 

"Those  blacks  who  accompany  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied 
Xegoro.  "  Old  Tom  is  not  perhaps  of  much  value,  but  the 
others  are  four  strong  fellows,  who  will  bring  a  high  price  in 
the  Kazounde  market." 

"  I  well  believe  it,  Kegoro,"  replied  Harris.  "  Four 
negroes,  well  made,  accustomed  to  work,  have  very  little 
resemblance  to  those  brutes  which  come  to  us  from  the  inte- 
rior. Certainly,  you  will  sell  them  at  a  high  price.  Slaves, 
born  in  America,  and  cx})orted  to  the  markets  of  Angola; 
that  is  rare  merchandise!  But,"  added  the  American,  "you 
have  not  told  me  if  there  was  any  money  on  board  the  '  Pil- 
grim.'" 

"Oh!  a  few  hundred  dollars  only,  which  I  have  succeeded 
in  saving.     Fortunately,  I  count  on  certain  returns." 

"Which,  then,  comrade?"  asked  Harris,  with  curiosity. 

"  Nothing!"  replied  Xegoro,  who  appeared  to  regret  having 
spoken  more  than  he  intended. 

"  It  now  remains  to  take  possession  of  all  that  high-priced 
merchandise,"  said  Harris. 

"Is  it,  then,  so  difficult?"  asked  Xegoro. 

"No,  comrade.  Ten  miles  from  here,  on  the  Coanza,  a 
caravan  of  slaves  is  encamped,  conducted  by  the  Arab,  Ibn 
Hamis.  He  only  awaits  my  return  to  take  the  road  for  Ka- 
zounde. There  are  more  native  soldiers  there  than  are  needed 
to  capture  Dick  Sand  and  his  companions.  It  will  be  suffi- 
cient for  my  young  friend  to  conceive  the  idea  of  going  to  the 
Coanza." 


180  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN". 

"But  will  lie  get  that  idea?"  asked  Negoro. 

"Surely,"  replied  Harris,  "because  he  is  intelligent,  and 
cannot  suspect  the  danger  that  awaits  him.  Dick  Sand 
would  not  think  of  returning  to  the  coast  by  the  way  we  have 
followed  together.  He  would  be  lost  among  these  immense 
forests.  He  will  seek,  then,  1  nm  sure,  to  reach  one  of  the 
rivers  that  flow  toward  the  coast,  so  as  to  descend  it  on  a 
raft.  He  has  no  other  plan  to  take,  and  I  know  he  will  take 
it." 

"  Yes — perhaps  so,"  replied  Negoro,  who  was  reflecting. 

"  It  is  not  'perhaps  so,'  it  is  'assuredly  so,'  that  must  be 
said,"  continued  Harris.  "  Do  you  see,  Negoro?  It  is  as  if 
I  had  appointed  a  rendezvous  with  my  young  friend  on  the 
banks  of  the  Coanza," 

"Well,  then,"  replied  Negoro,  "let  ns  go.  I  know  Dick 
Sand.  He  will  not  delay  an  hour,  and  we  must  get  before 
him." 

"Let  us  start,  comrade." 

Harris  and  Negoro  both  stood  up,  when  the  noise  that  had 
before  attracted  the  Portuguese's  attention  was  renewed.  Jt 
was  a  trembling  of  the  stems  between  the  high  papyrus. 

Negoro  stopped,  and  seized  Harris's  hand. 

Suddenly  a  low  barking  was  heard.  A  dog  appeared  at  the 
foot  of  the  bank,  with  its  mouth  open,  ready  to  spring. 

"Dingo!"  cried  Harris. 

"Ah!  this  time  it  shall  not  escape  me!"  replied  Negoro. 

Dingo  was  going  to  jump  upon  him,  when  Negoro,  seizing 
Harris's  gun,  quickly  put  it  to  his  shoulder  and  fired. 

A  long  howl  of  pain  replied  to  the  detonation,  and  Dingo 
disappeared  between  the  double  row  of  bushes  that  bordered 
the  brook. 

Negoro  descended  at  once  to  the  bottom  of  the  bank. 

Drops  of  blood  stained  some  of  the  ])apyrus  stems,  and  a 
long  red  track  was  left  on  the  pebl)les  of  the  brook. 

"At  last  that  cursed  animal  is  paid  off!"  exclaimed  Ne- 
goro. 

Harris  had  been  present  at  this  whole  scene  without  saying 
a  word, 

"Ah  now,  Negoro,"  said  he,  "that  dog  had  a  particular 
grudge  against  you." 

"  it  seemed  so,  Harris,  but  it  will  liave  a  grudge  against  me 
no  longer!" 

"And  why  did  it  detest  you  so  much,  comrade?" 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  181 

*'  Oh  I  an  old  affair  to  settle  between  it  and  me." 

"  An  old  affair?"  replied  Harris. 

Ts^egoro  said  no  more  about  it,  and  Harris  concluded  that 
the  Portuguese  had  been  silent  on  some  past  adventure,  but 
he  did  not  insist  on  knowing  it. 

A  few  moments  later,  both,  descending  the  course  of  the 
brook,  went  toward  the  Coanza,  across  the  forest. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ox      THE      MARCH. 

Africa!  That  name  so  terrible  under  the  present  circum- 
stances, that  name  which  he  must  now  substitute  for  that  of 
America,  was  not  for  an  instant  out  of  Dick  Sand's  thoughts. 
Wlien  the  young  novice  traced  back  the  last  weeks,  it  was  to 
ask  himself  how  the  "  Pilgrim"  had  ended  by  reaching  this 
dangerous  shore,  how  it  had  doubled  Cape  Horn,  and  passed 
from  one  ocean  to  the  other!  He  could  now  explain  to  him- 
self why,  in  spite  of  the  rapid  motion  of  his  vessel,  land  was 
so  long  coming  in  sight,  because  the  length  of  the  distance 
which  he  should  have  made  to  reach  the  American  coast,  had 
been  doubled  without  his  knowledge. 

"  Africa!  Africa!"  Dick  .Sand  repeated. 

Then,  suddenly,  while  he  called  up  with  a  tenacious  mind 
all  the  incidents  of  this  inexplicable  voyage,  he  felt  that  his 
compass  must  have  been  injured.  He  remembered,  too,  that 
the  first  compass  had  been  i)roken,  and  that  the  log-line  had 
snapped — a  fact  which  had  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  es- 
tablish tlie  speed  of  the  "  Pilgrim." 

"  Yes,"  thought  he,  "'  there  remained  but  one  compass  on 
board,  one  only,  the  indications  of  which  I  could  not  control! 
And  one  niglit  I  was  awakened  by  a  cry  from  old  Tom.  Ne- 
goro  was  there,  aft.  He  had  just  fallen  on  the  binnacle. 
May  lie  not  have  put  it  out  of  order!-'" 

Dick  Sand  was  growing  enlightened.  He  hud  his  finger  on 
the  truth.  He  now  understood  all  that  was  ambiguous  in 
Negoro's  conduct.  He  saw  his  hand  in  this  chain  of  inci- 
dents which  liad  led  to  the  loss  of  the  "  Pilgrim,"  aiul  had  so 
fe;irfullv  eiid;iiigcred  tiiose  on  boainl  of  her. 


182  A.    CAPTAIN    AT    FII'TKEN. 

But  what,  tlicn,  was  this  miserable  man?  Had  he  been  a 
sailor  and  known  so  well  how  to  hide  the  fact?  Was  he 
capable  of  contriving  tliis  odious  plot  which  had  thrown  the 
ship  on  the  coast  of  Africa? 

At  any  rate,  if  obscure  points  still  existed  in  the  past,  the 
present  could  offer  no  more  of  them.  Tiie  young  novice 
knew  only  too  well  that  he  was  in  Africa,  and  very  probably 
in  the  fatal  province  of  Angola,  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
from  the  coast.  He  also  knew  that  Harris's  treason  could  no 
longer  be  doubted.  From  this  fact,  tiie  most  simple  logic  led 
him  to  conclude  that  the  American  and  the  Portuguese  had 
long  known  each  other,  that  a  fatal  chance  had  united  them 
on  this  coast,  and  that  a  plan  had  been  concerted  between 
them,  the  result  of  which  would  be  dreadful  for  the  survivors 
of  the  "  Pilgrim." 

And  now,  why  these  odious  actions?  That  Ncgoro  wished, 
at  all  hazards,  to  seize  Tom  and  his  companions,  and  .sell 
them  for  plavcs  in  this  slave-trading  country,  might  be  ad- 
mitted. Tiiat  the  Portuguese,  moved  by  a  sentiment  of 
hatred,  would  seek  to  be  revenged  on  him,  Dick  Sand,  who 
had  treated  him  as  ho  deserved,  might  also  be  conceived. 
But  Mrs.  Weldon,  this  mother,  and  this  young  child — what 
would  the  wretch  do  Avith  them? 

If  Dick  Sand  could  have  overheard  a  little  of  the  conver- 
sation between  Harris  and  Kegoro,  he  would  have  known 
what  to  exfiect,  and  what  dangers  menaced  Mrs.  Weldon,  the 
blacks,  and  himself. 

The  situation  was  frightful,  but  the  young  novice  did  not 
vield  under  it.  Captain  on  board,  be  remained  captain  on 
land.  He  must  save  Mrs.  AVeldon,  little  Jack,  all  those  whose 
fate  Heaven  had  placed  in  his  hands.  His  task  was  only  com- 
mencing.    He  would  accomplish  it  to  the  end. 

After  two  or  three  hours,  during  which  the  present  and  the 
future  were  summed  up  in  his  mind,  with  their  good  and 
their  evil  chances — the  last,  alas!  the  most  numerous — Dick 
Sand  rose,  firm  and  resolved. 

The  first  glimmer  of  light  then  touched  the  summits  of 
the  forest.  With  the  excejition  of  the  novice  and  Tom,  all 
slept.     Dick  Sand  a])])roaclied  the  old  black. 

"Tom,"  he  said  to  him,  in  a  low  tone,  ''you  have  recog- 
nized the  roaring  of  the  lion,  you  have  remembered  the 
instruments  of  the  slave-traders.  You  know  that  we  are  in 
Africa!" 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  183 

''Yes,  Mr.  Dick,  I  know  it." 

"  Well,  Tom,  not  a  word  of  all  that,  neither  to  Mrs.  Wel- 
don  nor  to  your  companions.  "We  must  be  the  only  ones  to 
know,  the  only  ones  to  have  any  fears." 

"Alone — in  fact.     It  is  necessary,"  replied  Tom. 

"Tom,"  continued  the  novice,  "we  have  to  watch  more 
carefully  than  ever.  We  are  in  an  enemy's  country — and 
what  enemies!  what  a  country  I  To  keep  our  companions  on 
their  guard,  it  Avill  be  enough  to  tell  them  that  we  have  been 
betrayed  by  Harris.  They  will  think  that  we  fear  an  attack 
from  wandering  Indians,  and  that  will  suffice." 

"  You  can  count  absolutely  on  their  courage  and  devotion, 
Mr.  Dick." 

"  I  know  it,  as  I  count  on  your  good  sense  and  your  experi- 
ence.    You  will  come  to  my  help,  old  Tom?" 

"Always,  and  everywhere,  Mr.  Dick." 

Dick  Sand's  plan  was  accepted  and  approved  by  the  old 
black.  If  Harris  were  detected  in  open  treason  before  the 
hour  for  action,  at  least  the  young  novice  and  his  companions 
were  not  in  fear  of  any  immediate  danger.  In  fact,  it  was 
the  discovery  of  the  irons  abandoned  by  some  slaves,  and  the 
roaring  of  the  lion,  that  liad  caused  the  American's  sudden 
disappearance. 

He  knew  that  he  was  discovered,  and  he  had  fled  probably 
before  the  little  party  which  })e  guided  had  reached  the  place 
where  an  attack  had  been  arranged.  As  for  Kegoro,  Avhose 
])resence  Dingo  had  certainly  recognized  during  these  last 
days  of  the  march,  he  must  have  rejoined  Harris,  so  as  to 
consult  with  him.  At  any  rate,  .'•everal  hours  would  pass 
before  Dick  Sand  and  his  friends  would  be  assailed,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  profit  by  them. 

The  only  plan  was  to  regain  the  coast  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble. This  coast,  as  the  young  novice  had  every  reason  to 
l>elieve,  was  that  of  AngoUi.  After  having  reached  it,  Dick 
Sand  would  try  to  gain,  either  to  the  north  or  to  the  south, 
the  P(U'tugucse  settlements,  where  his  companions  could 
await  in  safety  some  oj)p()rtunity  to  return  to  their  country. 

I'ut.  to  cfTect  this  return  to  the  coast,  .«liould  <hoy  lake  the 
road  already  jfassed  over?  Dick  Sand  did  not  think  so,  and 
in  that  he  was  going  to  agree  with  Harris,  who  had  clearly 
foreseen  that  circumstances  would  oblige  the  young  novice 
to  sliorten  the  road. 


184  A  CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

In  fact,  it  would  liavo  been  diflicult,  not  to  say  imprudent, 
to  rceuninionco  tills  ililHcult  journey  tlirough  the  forest,  which, 
besides,  could  only  tend  to  brinp;  them  out  at  the  place  they 
liad  started  from.  This  wouhl  also  allow  Negoro's  accom- 
plices to  follow  an  assured  track.  The  only  thing  they  could 
do  was  to  cross  a  river,  without  leaving  any  traces,  and,  later 
on,  to  descend  its  course.  At  the  same  time,  there  was  less 
to  fear  from  an  attack  by  animals,  which  by  a  happy  chance 
had  so  far  kept  at  a  good,  distance.  Even  the  animosity  of 
the  natives,  under  these  circumstances,  seemed  less  impor- 
tant. Once  embarked  on  a  solid  raft,  Dick  Sand  and  his 
companions,  being  well  armed,  would  be  in  the  best  condition 
to  defend  themselves.     The  whole  thing  was  to  find  the  river. 

It  must  be  added  that,  given  the  actual  state  of  Mrs. 
Weldon  and  her  little  Jack,  this  mode  of  traveling  would  be 
the  most  suitable.  Arms  would  not  fail  to  carry  the  sick 
child.  Lacking  Harris's  horse,  they  could  even  make  a  litter 
of  branches,  on  which  Mrs.  Weldon  could  be  borne.  But 
this  would  require  two  men  out  of  five,  and  Dick  Sand 
wished,  Avith  good  reason,  that  all  his  companions  might  be 
free  in  their  movements  in  case  of  a  sudden  attack. 

And  then,  in  descending  the  current  of  a  river,  the  young 
novice  would  find,  himself  in  his  element! 

The  question  now  was,  whether  a  navigable  stream  of  water 
existed  in  the  neighboi'hood.  Dick  Sand  thought  it  proba- 
ble, and  for  this  reason:  The  river  which  emptied  into  the 
Atlantic  at  the  place  where  the  ''Pilgrim"  had  stranded 
could  not  ascend  much  to  the  north,  nor  much  to  the  east, 
of  the  province,  because  a  chain  of  mountains  quite  close  to 
them — those  which  they  had  mistaken  for  the  Cordilleras — 
shut  in  the  horizon  on  these  two  sides.  Then,  either  the 
river  descended  from  these  heights,  or  it  made  a  bend  toward 
the  soiith,  and,  in  these  two  cases,  Dick  Sand  could  not  take 
long  to  find  the  course.  Perhaps,  even  before  reaching  the 
river — for  it  had  a  right  to  this  qualification,  l)eing  a  direct 
tributary  of  the  ocean — one  of  its  affluents  would  be  met 
with  which  would  suffice  for  the  transport  of  the  little  party. 

At  any  rate,  a  stream  of  some  sort  could  not  be  far  away. 

In  fact,  during  the  last  miles  of  the  journey  the  nature  of 
the  earth  had  been  modified.  The  declivities  diminished 
and  became  damp.  Here  and  there  ran  narrow  streams,  which 
indicated  that  the  sub-soil  enclosed  everywhere  a  watery  net- 
work.    During  the  last  day's  march  the  caravan  had  kept 


A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  185 

along  one  of  these  rivulets,  whose  waters,  reddened  with 
ox)-de  of  iron,  eat  away  its  steep,  worn  banks.  To  find  it 
again  could  not  take  long,  or  be  very  difficult.  Evidently 
they  could  not  descend  its  impetuous  course,  but  it  would 
be  easy  to  follow  it  to  its  junction  with  a  more  considerable, 
possibly  a  navigable  affluent. 

Such  was  the  very  simple  plan  which  Dick  Sand  deter- 
mined upon,  after  having  conferred  with  old  Tom. 

Day  came,  all  their  companions  gradually  awoke.  Mrs. 
Weldon  placed  little  Jack  in  Nan's  arms.  The  child  was 
drowsy  and  faded-looking  during  the  intermittent  periods, 
and  was  sad  to  see. 

Mrs.  Weldon  approached  Dick  Sand. 

'•'Dick,"  she  asked,  after  a  steady  glance,  ''where  is  Har- 
ris?   I  do  not  perceive  him." 

The  young  novice  thought  that,  while  lotting  his  compan- 
ions believe  that  they  were  treading  on  the  soil  of  Bolivia,  it 
would  not  do  to  hide  from  them  the  American's  treason.  So 
he  said,  without  hesitation: 

"Harris  is  no  longer  here." 

"Has  he,  then,  gone  ahead?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"He  has  fled,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "This 
Harris  is  a  traitor,  and  it  is  according  to  Negoro's  plan  that 
he  led  us  this  far." 

"For  what  motive?"  quickly  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"I  do  not  know,"  replied  Dick  Sand;  "but  what  I  dp 
know  is,  that  we  must  return,  without  delay,  to  the  coast." 

"That  man — a  traitorl"  repeated  Mrs.  Weldon.  "I  had 
a  presentiment  of  iti  And  you  think,  Dick,  that  he  is  in 
league  with  Negoro?" 

"That  may  be.  Mrs.  Weldon.  The  wretch  is  on  our  track. 
Chance  has  brought  these  two  scoundrels  together,  and " 

"And  I  hope  tluit  tliey  will  not  be  separated  wlien  1  find 
tliem  again!"  said  Hercules.  "I  Avill  break  the  head  of  one 
against  the  other's  head!"  added  the  giant,  holding  out  his 
formidable  fists. 

"Hut  my  child!"  cried  Mrs.  Weldon.  "The  care  that  I 
hoped  to  find  for  liim  at  the  farm  of  San  Felice " 

"Jack  will  get  well,"  said  old  Tom,  "when  he  approaches 
the  more  healthy  part  of  the  coast." 

"  Dick,"  remarked  Mrs.  Weldon,  "you  are  sure  that  this 
Harris  has  betrayed  us?" 


ISC  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN. 

'*  Yos,  ^Ii!'.  Woldon,"  ropliod  the  young  novice,  who  Avould 
have  likod  to  iivoid  any  e.\i)huiati()n  on  tliis  subject. 

He  also  liastoned  to  add,  while  looking  at  the  old  black: 

"This  very  night  Toni  and  1  discovered  his  treason,  and 
if  he  had  not  jumped  on  his  horse  and  fled,  I  would  have 
killed  him." 

'*  So  this  farm " 

"There  is  neither  farm,  nor  village,  nor  settlement  in  the 
neighborhood,"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "Mrs.  Weldon,  I  re- 
peat to  you,  we  must  return  to  the  coast." 

"By  the  same  road,  Dick?" 

"  Ko,  Mrs.  AVeldon,  but  by  descending  a  river  which  will 
take  US  to  the  sea  without  fatigue  and  without  danger.  A 
few  more  miles  on  foot,  and  I  do  not  doubt " 

"  Oh,  I  am  strong,  Dickl"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon,  who  strug- 
gled against  her  own  weakness.  "I  will  walk!  I  will  carry 
my  child  I"' 

"We  are  here,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  said  Bat,  "and  we  will 
carry  you !" 

""ies,  yes,"  added  Austin.  "Two  branches  of  a  tree, 
foliage  laid  across." 

"  Thanks,  my  friends,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon;  "  but  I  want 
to  march.     I  Avill  march.     Forward!" 

"  Forward!"  exclaimed  the  young  novice. 

"Give  me  Jack,"  said  Hercules,  who  took  the  child  from 
Xan's  arms.  "AVhen  I  am  not  carrying  something,  lam 
tired." 

The  brave  negro  gently  took  in  his  strong  arms  the  little, 
sleeping  boy,  who  did  not  even  wake. 

Their  arms?  were  carefully  examined.  What  remained  of 
the  provisions  was  placed  in  one  package,  so  as  to  be  carried 
by  one  man.  Actcon  threw  it  on  his  back,  and  iiis  compan- 
ions thus  became  free  in  their  movements. 

Cousin  Benedict,  whose  long  limbs  Avere  like  steel  and  de- 
fied all  fatigue,  was  ready  to  set  out.  Had  he  remarked 
Harris's  disappearance?  It  would  be  imprudent  to  affirm  it. 
Little  disturbed  him.  Besides,  he  was  under  the  effects  of 
one  of  the  most  terrible  catastrophes  that  could  befall  him. 

Ill  fact,  a  grave  complication.  Cousin  Benedict  liad  lost  his 
magnifying-glass  and  his  spectacles.  Very  liappily,  also,  but 
without  his  suspecting  it,  liathad  found  the  two  precious  arti- 
cles in  the  tall  grass  where  they  had  slept,  but,  by  Dick 
Sand's  advice,    he  kept  them  safely.     By  this  means  they 


DICK  BXSD  JUMPED  PPON   HARRIH,   REIZBD   A    DAQOER   FROM   THE   AMERICAN'S 
BELT,  AND  I'LINOEU   IT   INTO  HIS  HEART.— .Se«  y;(/(/f  SMI . 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  187 

would  be  sure  that  the  big  child  would  keep  quiet  during  the 
march,  because  he  could  see  no  farther,  as  they  say,  than  the 
end  of  his  nose. 

Thus,  placed  between  Acteon  and  Austin,  with  the  formal 
injunction  not  to  leave  them,  the  woeful  Benedict  uttered  no 
complaint,  but  followed  in  his  place,  like  a  blind  man  led  by 
a  string. 

The  little  party  had  not  gone  fifty  steps  when  old  Tom 
suddenly  stopped  it  with  one  word. 

"  Dingo?"  said  he. 

"In  fact,  Dingo  is  not  hcrel"  replied  Hercules. 

The  black  called  the  dog  several  times  with  his  powerful 
voice. 

Xo  barking  replied  to  him. 

Dick  Sand  remained  silent.  The  absence  of  the  dog  was 
to  be  regretted,  for  he  had  preserved  the  little  party  from  all 
suiiirise. 

"Could  Dingo  liave  followed  Harris?"  asked  Tom. 

"Harris?  No,"  replied  Dick  Sand;  "but  he  may  have 
put  himself  on  Kegoro's  scent.     He  felt  him  in  our  steps." 

"This  cook  of  misfortune  would  quickly  end  him  with  a 
ball  I"  cried  Hercules. 
*  "  Provided  Dingo  rlid  not  first  strangle  him,"  replied  Bat. 

"  Perhaps  so,"  replied  the  young  novice.  "  But  we  can- 
not wait  for  Dingo's  return.  Besides,  if  he  is  living,  the  in- 
telligent animal  will  know  how  to  find  us.     Forward!" 

The  weather  was  very  warm.  Since  daybreak  large  clouds 
obscured  the  horizon.  Already  a  storm  was  ihreatencd  in  the 
air.  Probably  the  day  would  not  end  without  some  thunder- 
claps. Happily  the  forest,  more  or  less  dense,  retained  a  lit- 
tle freshness  at  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Here  and  there  great 
forest  trees  inclosed  prairies  covered  with  a  tall,  thick  grass. 
In  certain  spots  enormous  trunks,  already  petrified,  lay  on 
the  ground,  indicating  the  presence  of  coal  mines,  which  are 
frequently  met  with  on  the  Afiican  continent.  Tlien,  in  the 
clearings,  where  the  green  carpet  was  mingled  with  some 
sprigs  of  roses,  the  flowers  wore  various  in  color,  yellow  and 
bhie  ginger  plants,  ))alc  lobelias,  red  orchids,  incessantly  vis- 
ited i>y  tlic  insects  which  fertilized  them. 

The  trees  no  longer  formed  impenetrable  masses,  but  their 
nature  was  more  varied.  There  Avere  a  kind  of  palm-tree, 
wbicli  gives  an  oil  found  only  in  Africa;  cotton-trees  forming 
tliifkets  from  eight  to  ten  feet  liigli,  whose  wood-stalks  ])rd- 


188  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

{\\XiV  i\  cotton  with  loiijj  huirs,  almost  analogous  to  tliat  of 
l"\'rnanil)ouo.  From  the  copals  there  oozes,  by  the  holes 
which  certain  insects  make,  an  odorous  gum,  which  runs 
along  the  ground  and  collects  for  the  Mants  of  the  natives. 
Here  spread  the  lemon-trees,  the  grenadiers  of  a  savage  con- 
dition of  a  countr\',  and  twenty  other  odorous  ])lants,  which 
]n-ove  the  })rodigious  fertility  of  this  i)lateauof  Central  Africa. 
In  several  }>laces,  also,  the  perfume  was  agreeably  mingled 
with  the  tine  odor  of  vanilla,  although  they  could  not  discover 
what  tree  exhaled  it. 

This  whole  collection  of  trees  and  plants  was  perfectly 
green,  although  it  Avas  in  the  middle  of  the  dry  season,  find 
only  rare  storms  could  water  these  luxuriant  forests.  It  was 
then  the  time  for  fevers;  but,  as  Livingstone  has  observed, 
they  can  be  cured  by  leaving  the  place  where  they  have  been 
contracted.  Dick  Sand  knew  this  remark  of  the  great  trav- 
eler, and  he  hojied  that  little  Jack  would  not  contradict  it. 
lie  told  it  to  Mrs.  Weldon,  after  having  observed  that  the 
]K'riodical  access  had  not  returned  as  they  feared,  and  that 
the  child  slept  quietly  in  Hercules'  arms. 

Thus  they  went  forward  carefully  and  rapidly.  Sometimes 
they  discovered  traces  where  men  or  animals  had  recently 
passed.  The  twisted  and  broken  branches  of  the  brushwoo^d 
and  the  thickets  afforded  an  opportunity  to  walk  with  a  more 
e([ual  step.  But  the  greater  part  of  the  time  numerous  ob- 
stacles, which  they  had  to  overcome,  retarded  the  little  party, 
to  Dick  Sand's  great  disappointment. 

There  were  twisted  lianes  that  might  justly  be  compared 
with  the  disordered  rigging  of  a  ship,  certain  vines  similar  to 
bout  swords,  whose  blades  were  ornamented  with  long  thorns, 
vegetaljlc  serpents,  fifty  or  sixty  feet  long,  which  had  the  fac- 
ility of  turning  to  prick  the  passer-by  with  their  sharp  spikes. 
The  blacks,  hatchet  in  hand,  cut  them  down  with  vigorous 
blows,  but  the  lianes  reappeared  constantly,  reaching  from 
the  cartli  to  the  top  of  the  highest  trees  which  they  encircled. 

The  animal  kingdom  was  not  less  curious  than  the  vegetji^ 
ble  kingdom  in  this  part  of  the  province.  Birds  flew  in  vast 
numbers  under  these  powerful  branches;  but  it  will  be  un- 
derstood that  they  had  no  gun-shot  to  fear  from  the  men,  who 
wished  to  pass  as  secretly  as  rapidly.  There  were  Guinea- 
fowls  in  large  flocks,  heath-cocks  of  various  kinds,  very 
difficult  to  approach,  and  some  of  those  birds  which  the 
Americans    of    the    North    have,    by   onomatopoeia,    called 


A   CAPTAIN'   AT   FIFTEEX.  189 

*' whip-poor-wills,"  three  syllables  which  exactly  reproduce 
their  cries.  Dick  Sand  and  Tom  might  truly  have  believed 
themselves  in  some  province  of  the  new  continent.  But,  alas! 
they  knew  what  to  expect. 

Until  then  the  deer,  so  dangerous  in  Africa,  had  not 
approached  the  little  troop.  They  again  saw,  in  this  first 
halt,  some  giraffes,  which  Harris  had  undoubtedly  called 
ostriches.  These  swift  animals  passed  rapidh',  frightened  by 
the  apparition  of  a  caravan  in  these  little-frequented  forests. 
In  the  distance,  on  the  eiige  of  the  prairie,  there  arose  at 
times  a  thick  cloud  of  dust.  It  was  a  herd  of  buffaloes,  which 
galloped  with  the  noise  of  wagons  heavily  laden. 

For  two  miles  Dick  Sand  tlius  followed  the  course  of  the 
rivulet  which  must  end  in  a  more  important  river.  He  was 
in  haste  to  confide  his  companions  to  the  rapid  current  of  one 
of  the  coast  rivers.  He  felt  sure  that  the  dangers  and  the 
fatigue  would  be  much  less  than  on  the  shore. 

Towards  noon  three  miles  had  been  cleared  without  any 
bad  incident  or  meeting.  There  was  no  trace  of  either  Harris 
or  Xegoro.  Dingo  had  not  reappeared.  It  was  necessary  to 
halt  to  take  rest  and  nourishment. 

The  encampment  was  established  in  a  bamboo  thicket, 
whicli  completely  sheltered  the  little  party. 

They  talked  very  little  during  this  repast.  Mrs.  "Weldon 
had  taken  Jier  little  boy  in  her  arms;  she  could  not  take  her 
eyes  off  of  him;  she  could  not  eat. 

"  You  must  take  some  nourishment,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  Dick 
Sand  repeated  several  times.  "  What  will  become  of  you  if 
your  strength  gives  out?  Eat,  eat!  We  will  soon  start  again, 
and  a  good  current  M'ill  carry  us  without  fatigue  to  the  coast." 

Mrs.  Weldon  looked  in  Dick  Sand's  face  while  he  thus 
talked.  Tiie  young  novice's  burning  eyes  spoke  of  the  cour- 
age by  whicli  he  felt  animated.  In  seeing  him  thus,  in 
observing  these  Itrave,  devoted  blacks,  wife  and  mother,  she 
could  not  yet  df's))air;  and.  besides,  why  was  she  abandoned? 
Did  she  not  think  herself  on  hospitable  ground?  Harris's 
treason  could  not,  in  her  eyes,  have  any  very  serious  conse- 
quences. Dick  Sand  read  her  thoughs,  and  he  kept  his  eyes 
on  the  ground. 


100  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   BAD    KOADS   OF   ANGOLA. 


At  this  moment  Ijttle  Jack  awoke,  and  put  his  arms  around 
his  mother's  neck.  His  eyes  looked  better.  The  fever  luid 
not  returned. 

**  You  are  better,  my  darling,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  pressing 
the  sick  child  to  her  heart. 

"  Yes,  mamma,"  rejjlied  Jack,  "but  I  am  a  little  thirsty. 

They  could  only  give  the  child  some  fresh  water,  of  which 
he  drank  with  pleasure. 

•"•  And  my  friend  Dick?"  Jic  said. 

"Here  I  am.  Jack,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  coming  to  take  the 
3'oung  child's  hand. 

"And  my  friend  Hercules?" 

"Hercules  is  here,  Mr.  Jack, "" replied  the  giant,  bringing 
nearer  his  good  face. 

•"And  the  horse?"  demanded  little  Jack. 

"The  horse?  Gone,  Mr.  Jack,"  replied  Hercules.  "I 
will  carry  you.    'W'ill  you  find  that  I  trot  too  hard?" 

"No,"  replied  little  Jack;  "but  then  I  shall  no  longer 
have  any  bridle  to  hold." 

"Oh!  you  will  put  a  bit  in  my  mouth,  if  you  wish,"  said 
Hercules,  opening  his  large  mouth,  "  and  you  may  pull  back 
so  long  as  that  will  give  you  pleasure." 

"You  know  very  well  that  I  shall  not  pull  back." 

"  Good!     You  would  be  wrong!     I  have  a  hard  mouth." 

"But  Mr.  Harris's  farm?'*  the  little  boy  asked  again. 

"  We  shall  soon  arrive  there,  my  Jack,"  replied  Mrs.  "Wel- 
don.    "Yes,  soon!" 

"  Will  we  set  out  again?"  then  said  Dick  Sand,  in  order  to 
cut  short  this  conversation. 

"Yes,  Dick,  let  us  go,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon. 

The  camp  was  broken  up,  and  the  march  continued  again 
in  the  same  order.  It  was  necessary  to  pass  through  the 
underwood,  so  as  not  to  leave  the  course  of  the  rivulet. 
There  had  been  some  paths  theie,  formerlv,  but  those  paths 
were  dead,  according  to  the  native  expression — that  is,  bram- 
bles and  brushwood  had  usurped  them.  In  these  painful 
conditions  they  might  spend  three  hours  in  making  one  mile. 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  191 

The  blacks  Avorked  without  relaxation.  Hercules,  after  put- 
ting little  Jack  back  in  Xan's  arms,  took  his  part  of  the 
work;  and  what  a  parti  He  gave  stout  "heaves,"  making 
his  axe  turn  round,  and  a  hole  was  made  before  them,  as  if 
he  had  been  a  devouring  fire. 

Fortunately,  this  fatiguing  work  would  not  last.  This  first 
mile  cleared,  they  saw  a  large  hole,  opened  through  the  under- 
wood, which  ended  obliquely  at  the  rivulet  and  followed  its 
bank.  It  was  a  passage  made  by  elephants,  and  those  animals, 
doubtless  by  hundreds,  were  in  the  habit  of  traversing  this 
part  of  the  forest.  Great  holes,  made  by  the  feet  of  the 
enormous  pachydorms,  riddled  a  soil  softened  during  the 
rainy  season.  Its  spongy  nature  also  prepared  it  for  those 
large  imprints. 

It  soon  appeared  that  this  passage  did  not  serve  for  those 
gigantic  animals  alone.  Human  beings  had  more  than  once 
taken  this  route,  but  as  flocks,  brutally  led  to  the  slaughter- 
house, would  have  followed  it.  Here  and  there  bones  of 
dead  bodies  strewed  the  ground;  remains  of  skeletons,  half 
gnawed  by  animals,  some  of  which  still  bore  the  slave's 
fetters. 

There  are,  in  Central  Africa,  long  roads  thus  marked  out 
by  human  debris.  Hundreds  of  miles  are  traversed  by  cara- 
vans, and  how  many  unhappy  wretches  fall  by  the  way,  under 
the  agents'  whips,  killed  by  fatigue  or  privations,  decimated 
by  sickness!  How  many  more  massacred  by  the  traders  them- 
selves, when  food  failsl  Yes,  when  they  can  no  longer  feed 
them,  they  kill  them  with  the  gun,  witli  the  sword,  with  the 
knife  I     These  massacres  are  not  rare. 

So,  then,  caravans  of  slaves  had  followed  this  road.  For  a 
mile  Dick  Sand  and  his  com])anions  struck  against  these  scat- 
tered bones  at  each  step,  putting  to  flight  enormous  fern-owls. 
Those  owls  rose  at  their  approach,  with  a  heavy  flight,  and 
turned  rr)iind  in  the  air. 

Mrs.  ^\'eldon  looked  without  seeing.  Hick  Sand  trembled 
lest  she  should  question  him,  for  he  hoped  to  lead  her  back  to 
the  coast  without  tilling  her  that  Harris's  treachery  had  led 
tliem  astray  in  an  African  province.  Fortunately,  !Mrs.  "\V el- 
don  did  not  explain  to  herself  what  she  had  under  her  eyes. 
She  had  desired  to  take  her  child  again,  and  little  Jack, 
asleep,  al)Sorljed  all  her  care.  Nan  walked  near  her,  and 
neither  of  them  asked  the  young  novice  the  terrible  questions 
lie  drejuled. 


192  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

Old  Tom  went  along  with  his  eyes  down.  He  understood 
onlv  too  well  why  this  opening  was  strewn  with  huniiin  bones. 

riis  companions  looked  to  the  right,  to  tlie  left,  with  an 
air  of  surprise,  as  if  they  were  crossing  an  interminable  ceme- 
tery, the  tombs  of  which  had  been  overthrown  by  a  cataclysm; 
but  thoy  passed  in  silence. 

Meauwhih^  the  bed  of  the  rivulet  became  deeper  and  wider 
at  the  same  time.  Its  current  was  less  impetuous.  Dick 
Saiul  hoped  that  it  would  soon  become  navigable,  or  that  it 
would  before  long  reach  a  more  important  river,  tributary  to 
the  Atlantic. 

Cost  what  it  might,  the  young  novice  was  determined  to 
follow  this  stream  of  water.  Neither  did  he  hesitate  to  aban- 
don this  opening;  because,  as  ending  by  an  oblique  line,  it 
led  away  from  the  rivulet. 

The  little  party  a  second  time  ventured  through  the  dense 
underwood.  They  marched,  axe  in  hand,  through  leaves  and 
bushes  inextricably  interlaced. 

But  if  this  vegetation  obstructed  the  ground,  they  were 
no  longer  in  the  thick  forest  that  bordered  the  coast.  Trees 
became  rare.  Large  sheaves  of  bamboo  alone  rose  above  the 
grass,  and  so  high  that  even  Hercules  was  not  a  liead  over- 
them.  The  passage  of  the  little  party  was  only  revealed  by 
the  movement  of  these  stalks. 

Toward  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the 
nature  of  the  ground  totally  changed.  Here  were  long  plains, 
which  must  have  been  entirely  inundated  in  the  rainy  season. 
The  earth,  now  moi-e  swampy,  was  carpeted  by  thick  mosses, 
beneath  charming  ferns.  Should  it  be  diversified  by  any 
steep  ascents,  they  would  see  brown  hematites  appear,  the  last 
deposits  of  some  rich  vein  of  mineral. 

Dick  Sand  then  recalled — and  very  fortunately — what  he 
had  read  in  ''  Livingstone's  Travels."  More  than  once  the 
daring  doctor  had  nearly  rested  in  these  marshes,  so  treacher- 
ous under  foot. 

''Listen  to  me,  my  friends,"  said  he,  going  ahead.  "  Try 
the  ground  before  stepping  on  it." 

"In  fact,"  replied  Tom,  ''they  say  that  these  grounds 
have  been  softened  by  the  rain;  but,  however,  it  has  not 
rained  during  these  last  days." 

"  No,"  replied  Bat;  "  but  the  storm  is  not  far  off." 

"The  greater  reason,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "why  we  should 
hurry  and  get  clear  of   this  swamp  before   it   commences. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT  FIFTEEN.  193 

Hercules,  take  little  Jack  in  your  arms.     Bat,  Austin,  keep 
near  Mrs.  Weldon,  so  as  to  be  able  to  help  her  if  necessary. 

You,  Mr.    Benedict Why,  what   are    you    doing,   Mr. 

Benedict?" 

"lam  fallingl"  innocently  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  who 
had  just  disappeared,  as  if  a  trap  had  been  suddenly  opened 
beneath  his  feet. 

In  fact,  tlie  poor  man  had  ventured  on  a  sort  of  quagmire, 
and  had  disappeared  half-way  in  the  sticky  mud.  They 
stretched  out  their  liands,  and  he  rose,  covered  with  slime, 
but  quite  satisfied  at  not  having  injured  his  precious  ento- 
mologist's box.  Acteou  went  beside  him,  and  made  it  his 
dutv  to  preserve  the  unlucky,  near-sighted  man  from  any  new 
disasters. 

Besides,  Cousin  Benedict  had  made  rather  a  bad  choice  of 
the  quagmire  for  his  plunge.  When  they  drew  him  out  of 
the  sticky  earth  a  large  quantity  of  bubbles  rose  to  the  sur- 
face, and^  in  bursting,  they  emitted  some  gases  of  a  suffocat- 
ing odor.  Livingstone,  who  had  been  sunk  up  to  his  chest  in 
this  slime,  compared  these  grounds  to  a  collection  of  enormous 
sponges,  made  of  black,  porous  earth,  from  which  numerous 
streams  of  water  spouted  when  they  were  stepped  upon. 
These  places  were  always  very  dangerous. 

For  the  space  of  half  a  mile  Dick  Sand  and  his  compan- 
ions must  march  over  this  spongy  soil.  It  even  became  so 
bad  that  Mrs.  Weldon  was  obliged  to  stop,  for  she  sank  deep 
in  the  mire.  Hercules,  Bat,  and  Austin,  wishing  to  .spare 
her  the  unpleasantness  more  tlian  the  fatigue  of  a  passage 
across  this  mar-shy  plain,  made  a  litter  of  bamboos,  on  wliich 
she  consented  to  sit.  Her  little  Jack  was  placed  in  her  arms, 
tuid  they  endeavored  to  cross  that  pestilential  marsh  in  the 
quickest  manner. 

The  diflicnltios  were  great.  Actcon  held  Cousin  Benedict 
firmly.  Tom  aided  Nan,  who,  without  him,  would  have  dis- 
appeared several  times  in  some  crevice.  The  three  other 
blacks  carried  the  litter.  At  the  head,  Dick  Sand  sounded 
the  earth.  The  choice  of  the  place  to  step  on  was  not  made 
without  trouble.  They  marched  from  prct'erence  on  the 
edges,  wliich  wore  covered  by  a  thick  and  tough  grass.  Often 
the  sujjport  failed,  and  tlH'y"^Kank  to  the  knees  in  the  slime. 

At  last,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  marsh  being 
cleared,  the  soil  regained  sufficient  firmness,  thanks  to  its 
clayey  nature;  but  tiiey  felt  it  damp  underneath.      Very  evi- 


194  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

dently  those  lands  lay  below  the  neighboring  rivers,  and  the 
water  ran  through  tlieir  ])ores. 

At  that  time  the  heat,  had  become  overwhelming.  It  would 
even  have  been  unbearable,  if  thick  storm  clouds  had  not  in- 
teriiosed  between  the  burning  rays  and  the  ground.  Distant 
lightnings  began  to  rend  the  sky  and  low  rollings  of  thunder 
grmnbled  in  the  de))ths  of  the  heavens.  A  formidable  storm 
was  going  to  burst  forth. 

Now,  these  cataclysms  are  terrible  in  Africa:  rain  in  tor- 
rents, squalls  of  wind  which  the  strongest  trees  cannot  resist, 
clap  after  clap  of  thunder,  such  is  the  contest  of  tlie  elements 
in  that  latitude. 

Dick  Sand  knew  it  well,  and  he  became  very  uneasy.  They 
could  not  pass  the  night  without  shelter.  The  plain  was 
likely  to  be  inundated,  and  it  did  not  present  a  single  eleva- 
tion on  which  it  was  possible  to  seek  refuge. 

But  refuge,  where  would  they  seek  it  in  this  low  desert, 
without  a  tree,  without  a  bush?  The  bowels  of  the  earth 
even  would  not  give  it.  Two  feet  below  the  surface  they 
would  tind  water. 

However,  toward  the  north  a  series  of  low  hills  seemed  to 
limit  the  marshy  ]ilain.  It  was  as  the  border  of  this  depres- 
sion of  land.  A  few  trees  were  profiled  there  on  a  more  dis- 
tant, clearer  belt,  left  by  the  clouds  on  the  line  of  the  horizon. 

There,  if  shelter  were  still  lacking,  the  little  band  would  at 
least  no  longer  risk  being  caught  in  a  possible  inundation. 
There  perhaps  was  salvation  for  all. 

"P'orward,  my  friends,  forward!"  repeated  Dick  Sand. 
"Three  miles  more  and  we  shall  be  safer  than  in  these  bot- 
tom-lands." 

''Hurry  I  hurry  I"  cried  Hercules. 

The  brave  black  would  have  wished  to  take  that  whole 
world  in  his  arms  and  carry  it  alone. 

Those  words  inspii-ed  those  courageous  men,  and  in  spite 
of  the  fatigue  of  a  day's  march,  they  advanced  moi-e  cjuickly 
than  they  had  done  at  the  commencement  from  the  halting- 
place. 

When  the  storm  burst  forth  the  end  to  be  attained  was  still 
more  than  two  miles  ofl'.  Kow — a  fact  which  was  the  moie 
to  be  feared — the  rain  did  not  accompany  the  first  lightnings 
exchanged  between  the  ground  and  the  electrical  clouds. 
Darkness  then  became  almost  complete,  though  the  sun  had 
not  disappeared  below  the  horizon.     But  the  dome  of  vapors 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  195 

gradually  lowered,  as  if  it  threatened  to  fall  in — a  falling  in 
which  must  result  in  a  torrent  of  rain.  Lightnings,  red  or 
blue,  split  it  in  a  thousand  places,  and  enveloped  the  plain  in 
an  inextricable  network  of  fire. 

Twenty  times  Dick  and  his  companions  ran  the  risk  of 
being  struck  by  lightning.  On  this  plateau,  deprived  of 
trees,  they  formed  the  only  projecting  points  which  could 
attract  the  electrical  discharges.  Jack,  awakened  by  the 
noise  of  the  thunder,  liid  himself  in  Hercules'  arms.  He 
was  very  much  afraid,  poor  little  boy,  but  he  did  not  wish  to 
let  his  mother  see  it,  for  fear  of  afflicting  her  more.  Hercu- 
les, while  taking  great  steps,  consoled  him  as  well  as  he 
could. 

"Do  not  be  afraid,  little  Jack,"  he  repeated.  "If  the 
thunder  comes  near  us,  I  will  break  it  in  two  with  a  single 
hand.     I  am  stronger  than  it  I" 

And,  truly,  the  giant's  strength  reassured  Jack  a  little. 

Meanwhile  the  rain  must  soon  fall,  and  then  it  would  in 
torrents,  poured  out  by  those  clouds  in  condensing.  "What 
would  become  of  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  companions,  if  they 
did  not  find  a  sheUer? 

Dick  Sand  stopped  a  moment  near  old  Tom. 

"  What  must  be  done?"  said  he. 

"Continue  our  march,  Mr.  Dick,"  replied  Tom.  "We 
cannot  remain  on  this  plain,  that  the  rain  is  going  to  trans- 
form into  a  marsh!" 

"No,  Tom,  no!  But  a  shelter!  AVhere?  What?  If  it 
were  only  a  hut " 

Dick  Sand  had  suddenly  broken  off  his  sentence.  A  more 
vivid  flash  of  lightning  had  just  illuminated  the  whole  plain. 

"What  have  I  seen  there,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off?"  ex- 
claimed Dick  Sand. 

"  Yes,  I  also,  I  have  seen "  replied  old  Tom,  shaking 

his  head. 

"A  camp,  is  it  not?" 

"Yes,  Mr.  Dick,  it  must  be  a  camp,  but  a  camp  of 
natives!" 

A  new  flash  enabled  them  to  observe  this  camp  more 
closely.     It  occupied  a  part  of  tlic  immense  plain. 

There,  in  fact,  rose  a  hundred  conical  tents,  symmetrically 
arranged,  and  measuring  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in  heiglit. 
Not  a  soldier  showed  himself,  however.    Were  they  tlien  slmt 


106  A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEIf. 

Mp  under  their  tents,  so  as  to  let  the  storm  pass,  or  was  the 
camp  ahiiiuloiied? 

In  the  lirst  case,  whatever  Heaven  should  threaten,  Dick 
8and  must  lloe  in  the  quickest  manner.  In  the  second,  there 
was.  perhaps,  the  slielter  he  asked. 

"I  sliall  tind  out,"  he  said  to  himself;  then,  addressing 
old  I'oni:  *'  Stay  here.  Let  no  one  follow  ma.  I  shall  go  to 
reconnoitre  that  camp." 

*'  Ijct  one  of  us  accompany  yon,  Mr.  Dick." 

**  No,  Tom,  I  shall  go  alone.  I  can  approach  without  being 
seen.     Stay  here." 

The  little  troop,  that  followed  Tom  and  Dick  Sand,  halted. 
The  young  novice  left  at  once  and  disappeared  in  the  dark- 
ness, which  was  profound  when  the  lightning  did  not  tear 
the  sky. 

Some  large  drops  of  rain  already  began  to  fall. 

''What  is  the  matter?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon,  approaching 
tiic  old  bhick. 

"  We  have  perceived  a  camp,  Mrs.  Weldon,"  replied  Tom; 
"a  camp — or,  perhaps,  a  village,  and  our  captain  wished  to 
reconnoitre  it  before  leading  us  to  it." 

Mrs.  Weldon  was  satisfied  with  this  reply.  Three  minutes 
after,  Dick  Sand  was  returning. 

"Come!  come!"  he  cried,  in  a  voice  which  expressed  his 
entire  satisfaction. 

"The  camp  is  abandoned?"  asked  Tom. 

"  It  is  not  a  camp,"  replied  the  young  novice;  "it  is  not  a 
village.     Thev  are  ant-hills!" 

"  Ant-hills!"  exclaimed  Cousin  Benedict,  whom  that  word 
aroused. 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Benedict,  but  ant-hills  twelve  feet  high,  at 
least,  and  in  which  we  shall  endeavor  to  hide  ourselves." 

"But  then,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  "those  would  be 
ant-hills  of  the  warlike  termite  or  of  the  devouring  termite. 
Only  those  ingenious  insects  raise  such  monuments,  which 
the  greatest  architects  would  not  disown." 

"  Whether  they  be  termites  or  not,  Mr.  Benedict,"  replied 
Dick  Sand,  "' we  must  dislodge  them  and  take  their  place." 

"  They  will  devour  us.  They  will  be  defending  their 
rights." 

"Forward!     Forward!" 

"  But,  wait  now!"  said  Cousin  Benedict  again.  "  I  thought 
those  ant-hills  only  existed  in  Africa." 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  197 

"ForwardI"  exclaimed  Dick  Sand,  for  the  last  time,  with 
a  sort  of  violeuce.  He  was  so  much  afraid  that  Mr,?.  Wcldou 
might  hear  the  last  word  pronounced  by  the  entomologist. 

They  followed  Dick  Sand  with  all  haste.  A  furious  wind 
had  sprung  up.  Large  drops  crackled  on  the  ground.  In  a, 
few  moments  the  squalls  of  wind  would  become  unbearable. 
Soon  one  of  those  cones  which  stood  on  the  plain  was  reached. 
No  matter  how  threatening  the  termites  might  be,  the  human 
beings  must  not  hesitate.  If  they  could  not  drive  the  insects 
away,  they  must  share  tlieir  abode. 

At  the  bottom  of  this  cone,  made  with  a  kind  of  reddish 
clay,  there  was  a  very  narrow  hole.  Hercules  enlarged  it 
with  his  cutlass  in  a  few  moments,  so  as  to  give  a  passage 
even  to  a  man  like  himself. 

To  Cousin  Benedict's  extreme  surprise,  not  one  of  the 
thousands  of  termites  that  ought  to  occupy  the  ant-hill 
showed  itself.     AVas,  then,  the  cone  abandoned  ? 

The  hole  enlarged,  Dick  aud  his  companions  glided  into  it. 
Hercules  disappeared  the  last,  just  as  the  rain  fell  with  such 
rage  that  it  seemed  to  extinguish  the  lightnings. 

But  those  wind  squalls  were  no  longer  to  be  feared.  A 
happy  chance  had  furnished  this  little  troop  with  a  solid  shel- 
ter, better  than  a  tent,  better  than  a  native's  hut. 

It  was  one  of  those  termite  cones  that,  according  to  Lieu- 
tenant Cameron's  comparison,  are  more  astonishing  than  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt,  raised  by  the  hands  of  men,  because  they 
have  been  built  by  such  small  insects. 

"  It  is,"  said  he,  "  as  if  a  nation  had  built  Mount  Everest, 
the  highest  mountain  of  the  Himalaya  chain." 


CHAPTER  V. 

ANTS   AND   THEIR    DWELLING. 

At  this  moment  the  storm  burst  with  a  violence  unknown 
in  temperate  latitudes. 

It  was  ])rovi<lential  that  Dick  Satul  and  his  companions  had 
found  this  refuge  I 

In  fact,  the  rain  did  not  fall  in  distinct  dni]).s,  but  in 
streams  of  various  tliickness.  Sometimes  it  was  a  comjiact 
mass  forming  a  sheet  of  Avater,  like  a  cataract,  a  Niagara. 
Imagine  an  aeii.il  basin,  contiiining  a  whole  soa,  l)cing  upset. 


19S  A   CAPl'AIN   AT  FIFTEE^^ 

Uiidor  sucli  showers  the  ground  was  hollowed  out,  the  plains 
wore  fhangod  to  lakes,  the  streams  to  torrents,  the  rivers, 
overflowing,  inundaied  vast  territories.  In  temperate  zones 
tlio  violence  of  the  storms  decreases  according  to  their  dura- 
tion; but  in  Africa,  however  heavy  they  are,  they  continue  for 
several  entire  days.  How  can  so  much  electricity  be  collected 
in  the  clouds?  Jlow  can  such  quantities  of  vapor  be  accumu- 
lated? It  is  very  difficult  to  comprehend  tliis.  However, 
such  are  the  facts,  and  one  might  suppose  himself  transported 
to  the  extraordinary  epochs  of  the  diluvian  period. 

Fortunately,  the  ant-cone,  with  its  thick  walls,  was  per- 
fectly impervious.  A  beaver's  hut,  of  well-beaten  earth, 
could  not  have  been  more  water-tight.  A  torrent  could  have 
passed  over  it  without  a  single  drop  of  water  filtering  through 
its  pores. 

As  soon  as  Dick  Sand  and  his  companions  had  taken  pos- 
session of  the  cone  they  occupied  themselves  in  examining  its 
interior  arrangement.  The  lantern  was  lighted,  and  the  ant- 
hill was  sufticiently  illuminated.  This  cone,  which  measured 
twelve  feet  in  height  inside,  was  eleven  feet  wide,  except  in 
its  ui)per  part,  which  rounded  in  the  form  of  a  sugar-loaf. 
Everywhere  the  walls  were  about  one  foot  in  thickness,  and 
there  was  a  distance  between  the  stories  of  cells  which  adorned 
them. 

We  may  be  astonished  at  the  construction  of  such  monu- 
ments, due  to  these  industrious  swarms  of  insects,  but  it  is 
true  that  they  are  frequently  found  in  the  interior  of  Africa. 
Smeathman,  a  Dutch  traveler  of  the  last  century,  with  four 
of  his  companions,  occupied  the  top  of  one  of  these  cones. 
In  the  Lounde,  Livingstone  observed  several  of  these  ant- 
hills, built  of  reddish  clay,  and  attaining  a  height  of  fifteen 
and  twenty  feet.  Lieutenant  Cameron  has  many  a  time  mis- 
taken for  a  camp  these  collections  of  cones  which  dotted  the 
plain  in  N'yangwe.  He  has  even  stojjped  at  the  foot  of  great 
edifices,  not  more  than  twenty  feet  high,  but  composed  of 
forty  or  fifty  enormous  rounded  cones,  flanked  with  bell-towers 
like  the  dome  of  a  cathedral,  such  as  Southern  Africa  pos- 
sesses. 

To  what  species  of  ant  was  due,  then,  the  prodigious  style 
of  architecture  of  these  cones? 

"To  the  warlike  termite,"  Cousin  Benedict  had  replied, 
■without  hesitating,  as  soon  as  he  had  recognized  the  nature 
of  the  materials  employed  in  their  construction. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEENS".  199 

And,  in  fact,  the  walls,  as  has  been  said,  were  made  of  red- 
dish clay.  Had  they  been  formed  of  a  gray  or  black  alluvian 
earth,  they  must  haVe  been  attributed  to  the  "termes  mor- 
dax  "  or  tlie  ''termes  atrox."  As  we  see,  these  insects  have 
not  very  cheering  names — a  fact  which  cannot  but  please  a 
strong  entomologist,  such  as  Cousin  Benedict. 

The  central  part  of  the  cone,  in  which  the  little  troop  had 
first  found  shelter,  and  which  formed  the  empty  interior, 
would  not  have  contained  them;  but  large  cavities,  in  close 
contact,  made  a  number  of  divisions,  in  which  a  person  of 
medium  height  could  find  refuge.  Imagine  a  succession  of 
open  drawers,  and  at  the  bottom  of  these  drawers  millions  of 
cells  which  the  termites  had  occupied,  and  the  interior  dispo- 
sition of  the  ant-hill  is  easily  understood.  To  sum  up,  these 
drawers  are  in  tiers,  like  the  berths  in  a  ship's  cabin.  In  the 
upper  ones  Mrs.  Weldon,  little  Jack,  IS'an,  and  Cousin  Bene- 
dict took  refuge.  In  the  lower  row  Austin,  Bat,  and  Acteon 
hid  themselves.  As  for  Dick  Sand,  Tom,  and  Hercules,  they 
remained  in  the  lower  part  of  the  cone. 

"  My  friends,"  then  said  the  young  novice  to  the  two 
blacks,  "the  ground  is  becoming  damp.  We  must  fill  it  up 
by  crumbling  the  red  clay  from  the  base;  but  take  care  not  to 
obstruct  the  liole  by  which  the  air  enters.  We  cannot  risk 
being  smothered  in  this  ant-hill." 

"We  have  only  one  night  to  spend  here,"  replied  old  Tom. 

"Well,  let  us  try  and  make  it  recover  us  from  our  fatigue. 
This  is  the  first  time  in  ten  days  that  we  have  not  to  sleep  in 
the  open  air." 

"Ten  days  I"  repeated  Tom. 

"Besides,"  added  Dick  Sand,  "as  this  cone  forms  a  solid 
shelter,  perhaps  we  had  better  stay  here  tw^enty-four  hours. 
During  that  time,  I  will  go  in  search  of  the  stream  that  we 
arc  in  need  of ;  it  cannot  be  very  distant.  I  think  that  until 
wo  have  constructed  our  raft,  it  will  l)e  better  not  to  quit  this 
shelter.  The  storm  cannot  reach  us  here.  Let  us  make  the 
floor  stronger  and  dryer." 

Dick  Sand's  orders  were  executed  at  once.  Hercules,  with 
his  axe,  crumbled  the  first  story  of  cells,  which  was  comjwsed 
of  ciM8i>  red  clay.  He  thus  raised,  more  than  a  foot,  the  in- 
terior part  of  the  swam))y  earth  on  which  the  ant-hill  rested, 
and  Dirk  Sand  made  sure  that  the  air  could  freely  jienetratc 
to  the  jnterior  of  the  coue  tlirough  the  orifice  pierced  at  its 
base. 


200  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

It  was,  certainly,  a  fortunate  circinnstancc  that  the  ant-hill 
had  been  al)ancloned  by  the  termites.  With  a  few  thousands 
of  these  ants,  it  would  have  been  uninhabitable.  But,  liad  it 
been  evacuated  for  sonic  time,  or  had  the  voracious  newroptcra 
but  just  quitted  it?  It  was  not  superfluous  to  jwuder  this 
question. 

Cousin  Benedict  was  so  much  surprised  at  the  abandon- 
ment, that  he  at  once  considered  the  reason  for  it,  and  he  was 
soon  convinced  that  the  emigration  had  been  recent. 

In  fact,  he  did  not  wait,  but,  descending  to  tlie  lower  part 
of  the  cone,  and  taking  the  lantern,  he  commenced  to  ex- 
amine the  most  secret  corners  of  the  ant-hill.  He  thus  dis- 
covered what  is  called  the  "general  store-house"  of  the  ter- 
mites, that  is  to  say,  the  place  where  these  industrious  insects 
lay  up  the  provisions  of  the  colony. 

It  was  a  cavity  hollowed  in  the  wall,  not  far  from  the  royal 
cell,  which  Ilercules's  labor  had  destroyed,  along  with  the 
cells  destined  for  the  young  larvse. 

In  this  store-room  Cousin  Benedict  collected  a  certain 
quantity  of  particles  of  gum  and  the  juices  of  plants,  scarcely 
soiiditied,  which  proved  that  the  termites  had  lately  brought 
them  from  without. 

"  Well,  no  I"  cried  he.  "No!"  as  if  he  were  replying  to 
some  contradiction.  **  No,  this  ant-hill  has  not  been  long 
abandoned." 

"  AYho  says  to  the  contrary,  Mr.  Benedict?"  said  Dick 
Sand.  "  Recently  or  not,  the  important  thing  for  us  is  that 
the  termites  have  left  it,  because  we  have  to  take  their  place." 

"The  important  thing,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  "  will  bo 
to  know  why  they  have  left  it.  Yesterday — this  morning, 
perhaps — these  sagacious  newroptera  were  still  here,  because, 
see  these  liquid  juices;  and  this  evening " 

"Well,  what  do  you  conclude,  Mr.  Benedict?"  asked  Dick 
Sand. 

"  That  a  secret  presentiment  has  caused  them  to  abandon 
the  cone.  Not  only  have  all  the  termites  left  their  cells,  but 
they  have  taken  care  to  carry  away  the  young  larvoe,  of  which 
I  cannot  find  one.  Well,  I  repeat  that  all  this  was  not  done 
without  a  motive,  and  that  these  sagacious  insects  foresaw 
some  near  danger." 

"  They  foresaw  that  we  were  going  to  iuvado  their  dwell- 
ing,"  replied  Hercules,  laughing. 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  201 

"Indeed!*'  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  whom  this  answer 
sensibly  shocked.  "You  think  yourself  so  strong  that  you 
■would  'be  dangerous  to  these  courageous  insects?  A  few 
thousand  of  these  newroptera  would  quickly  reduce  you  to  a 
skeleton  if  they  found  j'ou  dead  on  the  road." 

"Dead,  certainly,"  replied  Hercules,  Avho  would  not  give 
up;  "but  living,  I  could  crush  masses  of  them." 

"You  might  crush  a  hundred  thousand,  five  hundred 
thousand,  a  million,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  with  anima^ 
tion.  "  but  not  a  thousand  millions;  and  a  thousand  millions 
would  devour  you,  living  or  dead,  to  the  last  morsel." 

During  this  discussion,  which  was  less  trifling  than  might 
be  supposed,  Dick  Sand  reflected  on  the  observations  made 
by  Cousin  Benedict.  There  was  no  doubt  that  the  savant 
knew  too  much  about  the  habits  of  the  termites  to  be  mis- 
taken. If  he  declared  that  a  secret  instinct  warned  them  to 
leave  the  ant-hill  recently,  it  was  because  there  was  truly  j)eril 
in  remaining  in  it. 

Meanwhile,  as  it  was  impossible  to  abandon  this  shelter  at 
a  moment  when  the  storm  was  raging  with  unparalleled  in- 
tensity, Dick  Sand  looked  no  farther  for  an  explanation  of 
what  seemed  to  be  inexplicable,  and  he  contented  himself 
with  saying: 

"Well,  Mr.  Benedict,  if  the  termites  have  left  their  pro- 
visions in  this  ant-hill,  we  must  not  forget  that  we  have 
brought  ours,  and  let  us  have  supper.  To-morrow,  when  the 
storm  will  be  over,  we  will  consult  together  on  our  future 
plans." 

They  then  occupied  themselves  in  preparing  the  evening 
meal,  for,  great  as  their  fatigue  was,  it  had  not  affected  the 
appetite  of  these  vigorous  walkers.  On  the  contrary,  the 
food,  which  had  to  last  for  two  more  days,  was  very  welcome. 
The  damp  had  not  reached  the  biscuits,  and  for  several  min- 
utes it  could  be  heard  cracking  under  tlic  solid  teeth  of  Dick 
Sand  and  his  companions.  I'otween  Ilercules's  jaws  it  was 
like  grain  under  tijc  miller's  grindstone.  It  did  not  crackle, 
it  powdered. 

Mrs.  Weldon  alone  scarcely  eat,  and  even  Dick  Sand's  en- 
treaties were  vain.  It  seemed  to  him  that  this  brave  woman 
was  more  preoccupied,  more  sad  than  she  had  l)cen  hitherto. 
Meanwhile*  lior  little  Jack  sufTorod  less;  the  fever  had  not 
returned,  and  at  tliis  time  he  was  sleeping  under  his  mother'a 


202  A   CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN. 

eyes,  in  a  cell  "well  lined  witii  garments.  Dick  Sand  knew 
not  what  to  think. 

It  is  useless  to  say  that  Cousin  Benedict  did  honor  to  the 
repast,  not  that  he  ])aid  any  attention  either  to  the  quality  or 
to  the  quantity  of  the  food  that  he  devoured,  but  because  he 
had  found  an  opportunity  to  deliver  a  lecture  in  entomology 
on  the  termites.  Ah!  if  he  had  been  able  to  find  a  termite,  a 
single  one,  in  the  deserted  ant-hill!     lint  nothing. 

"  These  admirable  insects,"  said  he,  without  taking  the 
trouble  to  find  out  if  any  one  were  listening — "  these  admir- 
able insects  belong  to  the  marvellous  order  of  newroptera, 
whose  horns  are  longer  than  the  head,  the  jaws  very  distinct, 
and  whose  lower  wings  are  generally  equal  to  the  upper  ones. 
Five  tribes  constitute  this  order:  the  Panorpates  (scorpion 
flies),  the  I\Iyrmileoniens,  the  Hemerobins,  the  Termitines, 
and  the  Perlides.  It  is  useless  to  add  that  the  insects  which 
now  interest  us,  and  whose  dwelling  we  occupy,  perhaps  un- 
duly, are  the  Termitines." 

At  this  moment  Dick  Sand  listened  very  attentively  to 
Cousin  Benedict.  Had  the  meeting  with  these  termites 
excited  in  him  the  thought  that  he  was  perhaps  on  the  Afri- 
can continent,  without  knowing  by  what  chance  he  liad 
arrived  there?  The  young  novice  was  very  anxious  to  find 
out. 

Tlie  savant,  mounted  on  his  favorite  hobby,  continued  to 
ride  it  beautifully. 

"  Xow  these  termitines,"  said  he,  "are  characterized  by 
four  joints  on  the  instep,  horned  jaws,  and  remarkable 
strength.  We  have  the  mont'spe  species,  the  raphidie,  and 
the  termite  species.  The  last  is  often  known  under  the  term 
of  white  ants,  in  which  we  count  the  deadly  termite,  the  yel- 
low corslet  termite,  the  termite  that  shuns  the  light,  the 
biter,  the  destroyer " 

"And  those  that  constructed  this  ant-hill?"  asked  Dick 
Sand. 

"  They  are  the  martial  ants,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict,  who 
pronounced  this  word  as  if  it  had  been  the  Macedonians,  or 
some  other  ancient  people  brave  in  war.  "  Yes,  the  war-like 
ants,  and  of  all  sizes.  Between  Hercules  and  a  dwarf  the  dif- 
ference would  be  less  than  between  th2  largest  of  these  insects 
and  the  smallest.  Among  them  are  Mvorkers' of  five  milli- 
metres in  length,  'soldiers'  of  ten,  and  males  and  females  of 
twenty.     We  find  also  a  kind  otherwise  very  curious:    the 


trmfi  jw^.^^ean  r  d,Attt  It. 


A   CAPTAIX    AT   riFTEEX.  203 

sirofous,  half  an  inch  in  length,  which  have  pincers  for  jaws, 
and  a  head  larger  than  the  body,  like  the  sharks.  They  are 
the  sharks  among  insects,  and  in  a  fight  betAveen  some 
sirafovs  and  a  shark,  I  would  bet  on  the  sirafous.^^ 

"  And  where  are  these  sirofous  commonly  observed?"  then 
asked  Dick  Sand. 

"  In  Africa,"  replied  Cousin  Benedict;  "  in  the  central  and 
southern  provinces.  Africa  is,  in  fact,  the  country  of  ants. 
You  should  read  what  Livingstone  says  of  them  in  the  last 
notes  reported  by  Stanley.  More  fortunate  than  myself,  the 
doctor  has  witnessed  a  Homeric  battle,  joined  between  an 
army  of  black  ants  and  an  army  of  red  ants.  The  latter, 
which  are  called  'drivers,'  and  which  the  natives  name 
sirafous,  were  victorious. 

"The  others,  the  '  tcho^mgoiis,^  took  flight,  carrying  their 
eggs  and  their  young,  not  without  having  bravely  defended 
themselves.  Never,  according  to  Livingstone,  never  was  the 
spirit  of  battle  carried  farther,  either  among  men  or  beasts! 
"\Vith  their  tenacious  jaws,  which  tear  out  the  piece,  these 
sirafous  make  the  bravest  man  recoil.  The  largest  animals 
— even  lions  and  elephants — flee  before  them. 

"  Nothing  stops  them;  neither  trees,  which  they  climb  to 
the  summit,  nor  streams,  which  they  cross  by  making  a 
suspension  bridge  of  their  own  bodies,  hooked  together.  And 
numerous  I  Another  African  traveler — Du  Chaillu — has  seen 
a  column  of  tliese  ants  defile  past  him  for  twelve  hours 
without  stopping  on  the  road.  But  why  be  astonished  at  the 
sight  of  such  myriads?  The  fecundity  of  these  insects  is 
surprising;  and,  to  return  to  our  fighting  termites,  it  has 
been  proved  that  a  female  deposits  as  much  as  sixty  thousand 
eggs  in  a  dayl  Besides,  these  newroptera  furnish  the  natives 
with  a  juicy  food.  Bioiled  ants,  my  friends;  I  know  of  noth- 
ing better  in  the  world!" 

"  Have  you  then  eaten  them,  Mr.  Benedict?"  asked  Her- 
cules. 

"Never,"  replied  the  wise  professor;  "but  I  shall  eat 
Bome." 

"  Where?" 

"Here." 

*'  Here;  we  arc  not  in  Africa!"  said  Tom,  very  quickly. 

"No,  no!"  replied  Cousin  lienedict;  "and,  thus  far,  these 
warlike  termites,  and  their  villages  of  ant-hills,  have  only 
been  observed  on  the  African  Continent.    Ah!  such  travelers 


204  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEX. 

They  do  not  know  how  to  see!  Well!  all  the  better,  after 
all.  1  have  discovered  a  tsetse  in  America.  To  the  glory  of 
this,  I  shall  join  that  of  having  found  the  warlike  termites 
on  the  same  continent!  What  matter  for  an  article  that  will 
make  a  sensation  in  educated  Europe,  and,  perhajis,  appear 
in  folio  form,  with  ])rints  and  engravings,  besides  the   text!" 

It  was  evident  that  the  truth  had  not  entered  Cousin  Bene- 
dict's brain.  I'hc  poor  man  and  all  his  companions,  Uick 
Sand  and  Tom  excepted,  believed  themselves,  and  must  be- 
lieve themselves,  where  they  were  not!  It  needed  other  inci- 
dents, facts  still  more  grave  than  certain  scientific  curiosities, 
to  undeceive  them! 

It  was  then  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Cousin  Benedict 
had  talked  for  a  long  time.  Did  he  perceive  that  his  audi- 
tors, propped  up  in  their  cells,  had  gradually  fallen  asleep 
during  his  entomological  lecture?  No;  certainly  not.  lie 
lectured  for  himself.  Dick  Sand  no  longer  questioned  him, 
and  remained  motionless,  although  he  did  not  sleep.  As  for 
Hercules,  he  had  resisted  longer  than  the  others;  but  fatigue 
soon  finished  by  shutting  his  eyes,  and,  with  his  eyes,  his 
ears. 

For  some  time  longer  Cousin  Benedict  continued  to  lecture. 
However,  sleep  finally  got  the  best  of  him,  and  he  mounted 
to  the  upper  cavity  of  the  cone,  in  which  he  had  chosen  his 
domicile. 

Deep  silence  fell  on  the  interior  of  the  cone,  while  the 
storm  filled  space  Avith  noise  and  fire.  Nothing  seemed  to 
indicate  that  the  tempest  was  nearly  over. 

The  lantern  had  been  extinguished.  The  interior  of  the 
ant-hil!  was  plunged  in  complete  darkness. 

No  doubt  all  slept.  However,  Dick  Sand,  alone,  did  not 
seek  in  sleep  the  repose  which  was  so  necessary  to  him. 
Thought  absorbed  him.  He  dreamed  of  his  companions, 
whom  he  would  save  at  all  hazards.  The  wrecking  of  the 
'•■  Pilgrim"  had  not  been  the  end  of  their  cruel  trials,  and 
others,  still  more  terrible,  threatened  them  should  they  fall 
into  the  hands  of  these  natives. 

And  how  to  avoid  this  danger,  the  worst  of  all,  during 
their  return  to  the  coast.  Harris  and  Negoro  had  not  led 
them  a  hundred  miles  into  the  interior  of  Angola  without  a 
secret  design  to  gain  possession  of  them. 

But  what  did  this  miserable  Portuguese  intend?  Who 
had  merited  his  hatred?    The  young  novice  re}>cated  to  him- 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  205 

self,  that  he  alone  hud  incurred  it.  Then  he  passed  in  re- 
view all  the  incidents  that  had  taken  place  during  the  "  Pil- 
grim's" voyage;  the  meeting  with  the  wreck  and  the  blacks; 
the  pursuit  of  the  whale;  the  disappearance  of  Captain  Hull 
and  his  crew. 

Dick  Sand  had  found  himself,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  en- 
trusted with  the  command  of  a  vessel,  the  compass  and  log 
of  which  were  soon  injured  by  ISTegoro's  criminal  actions.  lie 
again  saw  himself  using  his  authority  in  the  presence  of  this 
insolent  cook,  threatening  to  put  him  in  irons,  or  to  blow 
out  his  brains  with  a  pistol-shot.  Ah,  why  had  he  hesitated 
to  do  it?  Xegoro's  corpse  would  have  been  thrown  over- 
board, and  none  of  these  catastrophes  would  have  happened. 

Such  were  the  young  man's  various  thoughts.  Then  they 
dwelt  a  moment  on  the  shipwreck  which  had  ended  the 
"  Pilgrim's  "  voyage.  The  traitor  Harris  appeared  then,  and 
this  province  of  South  America  gradually  became  trans- 
formed. Bolivia  changed  to  the  terrible  Angola,  with  its 
feverish  climate,  its  savage  deer,  its  natives  still  more  cruel. 
Could  the  little  party  escape  during  its  return  to  the  coast? 
This  river  which  he  was  seeking,  which  he  hoped  to  find, 
would  it  conduct  them  to  the  shore  with  more  safety,  and 
with  less  fatigue?  He  would  not  doubt  it,  for  he  knew  well 
that  a  march  of  a  hundred  miles  through  this  inhospitable 
country,  in  the  midst  of  incessant  dangers,  was  no  longer 
possible. 

''Happily,"  he  said  to  himself,  "Mrs.  Weldon  and  all  are 
ignorant  of  the  danger  of  the  situation.  Old  Tom  and  I,  we 
alone  are  to  know  that  Negoro  has  thrown  us  on  the  coast  of 
Africa;  and  that  Harris  has  led  me  into  the  wilds  of  Angola," 

Dick  Sand  was  thus  sunk  in  overpowering  thoughts,  when 
he  felt  a  breath  on  his  forehead.  A  hand  rested  on  his 
shoulder,  and  a  trembling  voice  murmured  these  words  in  his 
ear: 

"  I  know  all,  my  poor  Dick,  but  God  can  yet  save  us!  His 
will  be  done!" 


X'OG  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 


CHAPTER  YT. 

THE      DIVING-BELL. 

To  this  unexpected  revelation  Dick  Sand  could  not  reply. 
Besides,  Mrs,  AVeldon  had  gone  back  at  once  to  her  i)lace  be- 
side little  Jack.  She  evidently  did  not  wish  to  say  any  more 
about  it,  and  the  young  novice  had  not  the  courage  to  detain 
her. 

Thus  Mrs.  Weldon  knew  what  to  believe.  The  various  in- 
cidents of  the  way  had  enlightened  her  also,  and  perhaps, 
too,  that  word,  ''Africa!"  so  unluckily  pronounced  the  night 
before  by  Cousin  Benedict. 

"  Mrs.  "Weldon  knows  everything,"  repeated  Dick  Sand  to 
himself.  "  Well,  perhaps  it  is  better  so.  The  brave  woman 
does  not  despair.     I  shall  not  despair  either." 

Dick  Sand  now  longed  for  day  to  return,  that  he  might 
explore  the  surroundings  of  this  termite  village.  He  must 
find  a  tributary  of  the  Atlantic  with  a  rapid  course,  to  tian- 
spoi't  all  his  little  troop.  He  had  a  presentiment  that  this 
water-course  could  not  be  far  distant.  Above  all,  they  must 
avoid  an  encounter  with  the  natives,  perhn])s  already  gent  in 
pursuit  of  them  under  Harris's  and  Ncgoro's  direction. 

But  it  was  not  day  yet.  No  light  made  its  way  into  the 
cone  through  the  lower  orifice.  Knmlilings,  rendered  low  by 
the  thickness  of  the  walls,  indicated  that  the  storm  still 
iiiged.  Listening,  Dick  Sand  also  heard  the  rain  falling  with 
violence  at  the  l)ape  of  the  ant-hill.  As  the  laige  dro])s  no 
longer  struck  a  hard  soil,  he  must  conclude  that  the  whole 
j)lain  was  inundated. 

It  must  have  liccn  al  out  eleven  o'clock.  Dick  Sand  then 
felt  that  a  kind  of  torpor,  if  not  a  true  sleep,  was  going  to 
overcome  him.  It  would,  liowever,  be  rest.  But,  just  as  he 
was  yielding  to  it,  the  thought  came  to  him  that,  by  the  set- 
tling of  the  clay,  washed  in,  the  lower  orifice  was  likely  to  be 
obstructed.  All  passage  for  the  oi^ter  air  would  be  closed. 
AVithin,  the  respiration  of  ten  persons  would  soon  vitiate  the 
air  by  loading  it  with  carbonic  acid. 

Dick  Sand  then  slipped  to  the  ground,  which  had  been 
raised  by  the  clay  from  the  fii'st  floor  of  cells. 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  207 

That  cushion  was  still  perfectly  dry,  and  the  orifice  entirely 
fiee.  The  air  penetrated  freely  to  the  interior  of  the  cone, 
and  with  it  some  flashes  of  lightning,  and  the  lond  noises  of 
that  storm,  that  a  diluvian  rain  could  not  extinguish. 

Dick  Sand  saw  that  all  was  well.  No  immediate  danger 
Ecemed  to  menace  these  human  termites,  substituted  for  the 
colony  of  newroptera.  The  young  novice  then  thought  of 
refreshing  himself  by  a  fcAv  hours'  sleep,  as  he  already  felt  its 
influence.  Only  with  supreme  precaution  Dick  Sand  lay 
on  that  bed  of  clay,  at  the  bottom  of  the  cone,  near  the  nar- 
row orifice. 

By  this  means,  if  any  accident  happened  outside,  he  would 
be  the  first  to  remark  it.  The  rising  day  would  also  awaken 
him,  and  he  would  be  ready  to  begin  the  exploration  of  the 
plain. 

Dick  Sand  lay  down  then,  his  head  against  the  wall,  his  gnn 
under  his  hand,  and  almost  immediately  he  was  asleep. 

How  long  this  drowsiness  lasted  he  could  not  tell,  when  he 
was  awakened  by  a  lively  sensation  of  coolness. 

He  rose  and  recognized,  not  without  great  anxiety,  that  the 
water  was  invading  the  ant-hill,  and  even  so  rapidly  that  in  a 
few  seconds  it  would  reach  the  story  of  cells  occupied  by  Tom 
and  Hercules. 

The  latter,  awakened  by  Dick  Sand,  were  told  about  this 
new  complication. 

The  lighted  lantern  soon  showed  the  interior  of  the  cone. 

The  water  had  stopped  at  a  height  of  about  five  feet,  and 
remained  stationary. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Dick?"'  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"It  is  nothing,"  replied  the  young  novice.  "The  lower 
part  of  the  cone  has  been  inundated.  It  is  probable  that 
during  this  storm  a  neighboring  river  has  overflowed  on  tliis 
plain." 

"  Good!"  said  Hercules;  "  that  proves  the  river  is  there!" 

"  Yes,"  rei)lied  Dick  Sand,  "and  it  will  carry  us  to  the 
coast.  Be  reassured,  then,  Mrs.  Weldon  ;  the  water  cannot 
reach  you,  nor  little  Jack,  nor  Xan,  nor  Mr.  Benedict." 

Mrs.  AVeldon  did  not  reply.  As  to  the  cousin,  he  slept  like 
a  veritable  termite. 

Meanwhile  the  blacks,  leaning  over  this  sheet  of  water, 
which  reflected  the  lantern's  light,  waited  for  Dick  Sand  to 
indicate  to  them  what  should  be  done,  lie  was  measuring 
the  lu'iglit  (if  tiie  iiiniidation. 


208  A    CAITAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

After  liaving  the  provisions  and  arms  put  out  of  the  rcacli 
of  the  inundation,  Dick  Sand  was  silent. 

*'  The  water  1ms  ju'iiotratod  by  the  orilicc,"  said  Tom. 

*'  Yes/'  re])lied  Dick  8und,  "and  now  it  prevents  the  in- 
terior air  from  being  renewed." 

"  Could  we  not  nnike  a  hole  in  the  wall  above  the  level  of 
the  water?"  asked  the  old  black. 

"  Doubtless,  Tom;  but  if  we  have  five  feet  of  water  within, 
there  are  perhaps  six  or  seven,  even  piore,  without." 

''You  think,  Mr.  Dick ?" 

''I  think,  Tom,  that  the  water,  rising  inside  the  ant-hill, 
luis  compressed  the  air  in  the  upper  part,  and  that  this. air 
now  makes  an  obstacle  to  prevent  the  water  from  rising 
higher.  But  if  we  pierce  a  hole  in  the  wall  by  which  the  air 
would  escape,  either  the  water  would  still  rise  till  it  reached 
the  outside  level,  or  if  it  passed  the  hole,  it  would  rise  to  that 
point  where  the  compressed  air  would  again  keep  it  back. 
We  must  be  here  like  Avorkmen  in  a  diving-bell." 

*'  What  must  be  done?"  asked  Tom. 

'•'Rellect  well  before  acting,"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "An 
imprudence  might  cost  us  our  lives!" 

The  young  novice's  observation  was  very  true. 

In  comparing  the  cone  to  a  submerged  bell,  he  was  right. 
Only  in  that  apparatus  the  air  is  constantly  renewed  by 
means  of  pumps.  The  divers  breathe  comfortably,  and  they 
suffer  no  other  inconveniences  than  those  resulting  from  a 
prolonged  sojourn  in  a  compressed  atmosphere,  no  longer  at 
a  normal  pressure. 

But  here,  beside  those  inconveniences,  space  was  already 
reduced  a  third  by  the  invasion  of  the  water.  As  to  the  air, 
it  would  only  be  renewed  if  they  put  it  in  communication 
with  the  outer  atmosphere  by  means  of  a  hole. 

Could  they,  without  running  the  dangers  spoken  of  by 
Dick  Sand,  pierce  that  hole?  Would  not  the  situation  ho 
aggravated  by  it? 

Wlnit  was  certain  was,  that  the  water  now  rested  at  a  level 
which  only  two  causes  could  make  it  exceed,  namely:  if  they 
pierced  a  iiole,  and  the  level  of  the  rising  waters  was  higher 
outside,  or  if  the  height  of  this  rising  water  should  still 
increase.  In  either  of  these  cases,  only  a  narrow  sjiace  would 
remain  inside  the  cone,  where  the  air,  not  renewed,  would  bo 
still  more  compressed. 


A  CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEESr.  209 

But  might  not  the  ant-hill  be  torn  from  the  ground  and 
overthrown  by  the  inundation,  to  the  extreme  danger  of  those 
within  it?  No,  no  more  than  a  beaver's  hut,  so  lirmly  did  it 
adhere  by  its  base. 

Then,  the  event  most  to  be  feared  was  the  persistence  of 
the  storm,  and,  consequently,  the  increase  of  the  inundation. 
Thirty  feet  of  water  on  tlie  plain  would  cover  the  cone  with 
eighteen  feet  of  water,  and  bear  on  the  air  within  with  the 
pressure  of  an  atmosphere. 

Now,  after  reflecting  well  upon  it,  Dick  Sand  was  led  to 
fear  that  this  inundation  might  increase  considerably. 

In  fact,  it  could  not  be  due  solely  to  that  deluge  poured 
out  by  the  clouds.  It  seemed  more  probable  that  a  neighbor- 
ing watercourse,  swelled  by  the  storm,  had  burst  its  banks, 
and  was  spreading  over  this  plain  lying  below  it.  What  proof 
had  they  that  the  ant-hill  was  not  then  entirely  submerged, 
and  that  it  was  full  time  to  leave  it  by  the  top  part,  which 
would  not  be  difficult  to  demolish? 

Dick  Sand,  now  extremely  anxious,  asked  himself  what  he 
ought  to  do.  Must  he  wait  or  suddenly  announce  the  proba- 
ble result  of  the  situation,  after  ascertaining  the  condition 
of  things? 

It  was  then  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  All,  motion- 
less, silent,  listened.  The  noise  from  outside  came  very 
feebly  through  the  obstructed  orifice.  All  the  time  a  dull 
sound,  strong  and  continued,  well  indicated  that  the  contest 
of  the  elements  had  not  ceased. 

At  that  moment  old  Tom  observed  that  the  water  level 
was  gradually  rising. 

**  Yes,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "and  if  it  rises,  as  the  air  can- 
not escape  from  within,  it  is  because  the  rising  of  the  waters 
increases  and  presses  it  more  and  more." 

'*  It  is  but  slisrht  so  far,"  said  Tom. 

"Without  doubt,"  replied  Dick  Sand;  "but  where  will 
this  level  stop?" 

"Mr.  Dick,"  asked  Bat,  "would  you  like  me  to  go  out  of 
the  ant-hill?     By  diving,  I  should  try  to  slip  out  by  the  hole." 

"It  will  be  better  for  mo  to  try  it,"  replied  Dick  Sand. 

"No,  Mr,  Dick,  no,"  replied  old  Tom,  (piickly;  "let  my 
son  do  it,  and  trust  to  his  skill.  In  case  lie  could  not  return, 
your  presence  is  necessary  liere." 

Then,  lower: 

"Do  not  forget  Mrs.  Wcldon  and  little  Jack." 


210  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTKEN. 

"Be  it  so,"  replied  Diek  Siind.  "Go,  then,  Bat.  If  the 
ant-liill  is  submerged,  do  not  seek  to  enter  it  again.  We  shall 
try  to  come  out  as  you  will  have  done.  But  if  the  cone  stdl 
emerges,  strike  ou  its  top  witli  the  axe  that  you  will  take 
with  you.  We  will  hear  you,  and  it  will  be  the  signal  for  us 
to  demolish  the  top  from  our  side.     You  understand?" 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Dick,"  replied  Bat. 

"Go,  then,  boy,"  added  old  Tom,  pressing  his  son's  hand. 

Bat,  after  laying  in  a  good  provision  of  air  by  a  long  aspi- 
ration, plunged  under  the  liquid  mass,  whose  depth  then  ex- 
ceedecV  live  feet.  It  was  a  rather  difficult  task,  because  he 
would  have  to  seek  the  lower  orifice,  slip  through  it,  and  then 
rise  to  the  outside  surface  of  the  waters. 

That  must  be  done  quickly. 

Kearly  half  a  minute  passed  away.  Dick  Sand  then  thought 
that  BaJ  had  succeeded  in  passing  outside  when  the  black 
emerged. 

"Well!"  exclaimed  Dick  Sand. 

"The  hole  is  stopped  up  by  rubbish!"  replied  Bat,  as  soon 
as  he  could  take  breath. 

"Stopped  up!"  repeated  Tom. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Bat.  "  The  water  has  probably  diluted  the 
clay.  I'have  felt  around  the  walls  with  my  hand.  There  is 
no  longer  any  hole." 

Dick  Sand  shook  his  head.  His  companions  and  he  were 
hermetically  sequestred  in  this  cone,  perhaps  submerged  by 
the  water. 

"  If  there  is  no  longer  any  hole,"  then  said  Hercules,  "  we 
must  make  oue." 

'''Wait,"  replied  the  young  novice,  stopping  Hercules,  who, 
hatchet  in  hand,  was  preparing  to  dive. 

Dick  Sand  reflected  for  a  few  moments,  and  then  he  said: 

"  Wo  are  going  to  proceed  in  another  manner.  The  whole 
question  is  to  know  whether  the  water  covers  the  ant-hill  or 
not.  If  we  make  a  small  opening  at  the  summit  of  the  cone, 
we  shall  find  out  which  it  is.  But  in  case  the  ant-hill  should 
be  submerged  now,  the  water  would  fill  it  entirely,  and  we 
would  be  lost.     Let  us  feel  our  way." 

"  But  quickly,"  replied  Tom. 

In  fact,  the  level  continued  to  rise  gradually.  There  were 
then  six  feet  of  water  inside  the  cone.  With  the  exception  of 
^Mrs.  Weldon,  her  son.  Cousin   Benedict,  and  Nan,  who  had 


A    CAPTAIX   AT    FIFTEE:N'.  211 

taken  refuge  iu  the  upper  cavities,  all  were  immerged  to  the 
waist. 

Then  there  was  a  necessity  for  quick  action,  as  Dick  Sand 
proposed. 

It  was  one  foot  above  the  interior  level,  consequently  seven 
feet  from  the  ground,  that  Dick  Sand  resolved  to  pierce  a  hole 
in  the  clay  wall. 

If,  by  this  hole,  they  were  in  communication  with  the  outer 
air,  the  cone  emerges.  If,  on  the  contrary,  this  hole  was 
pierced  below  the  water  level  outside,  the  air  would  be  driven 
inward,  and  m  that  case  they  must  stop  it  up  at  once,  or  the 
water  would  rise  to  its  orifice.  Then  they  would  commence 
again  a  foot  higher,  and  so  on.  If,  at  last,  at  the  top,  they 
did  not  yet  find  the  outer  air,  it  was  because  there  Avas  a 
depth  of  more  than  fifteen  feet  of  water  in  the  plain,  and  that 
the  whole  termite  village  had  disappeared  under  the  inunda- 
tion. Then  what  chance  had  the  prisoners  in  the  ant-hill  to 
escape  the  most  terrible  of  deaths,  death  by  slow  asphyxia? 

Dick  Sand  knew  all  that,  but  he  did  not  lose  his  presence 
of  mind  for  a  moment.  He  had  closely  calculated  the  conse- 
quences of  the  experiment  he  wished  to  try.  Besides,  to  wait 
longer  was  not  possible.  Asphyxia  was  threatening  in  this 
narrow  space,  reduced  every  moment,  in  a  medium  already 
saturated  with  carbonic  acid. 

The  best  tool  Dick  Sand  could  employ  to  pierce  a  hole 
through  the  wall  was  a  ramrod  furnished  with  a  screw, 
intended  to  draw  the  wadding  from  a  gun.  By  making  it 
turn  rapidly,  this  screw  scooped  out  the  clay  like  an  auger, 
and  the  hole  was  made  little  by  little.  Then  it  would  not 
have  a  larger  diameter  than  that  of  the  ramrod,  but  that 
would  be  sufficient.     The  air  could  come  through  very  well. 

Hercules,  holding  up  the  lantern,  lighted  Dick  Sand. 
They  had  some  wax  candles  to  take  its  place,  and  they  had 
not  to  fear  lack  of  light  from  that  source. 

A  minute  after  the  beginning  of  the  operation,  the  ramrod 
went  freely  through  the  wall.  At  once  a  rather  dull  noise 
was  produced,  resembling  that  made  by  globules  of  air  escap- 
ing through  a  column  of  water.  The  air  esca])ed,  and,  at 
the  same  moment,  the  level  of  the  water  rose  in  the  cone, 
and  Htopjjed  at  Hie  height  ftf  the  hole.  This  proved  that 
they  had  i>ierced  too  low — that  is  to  say,  below  the  liquid 
mass. 


212  A  CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

"  licgln  again,"  the  yonug  novice  said,  coolly,  after  rapidly 
stopping  the  liolo  with'ti  handful  of  clay. 

'J'ho  water  was  again  stationary  in  the  cone,  but  the  re- 
served space  liad  diminished  more  than  eiglit  inches.  Eospi- 
ration  became  difficult,  for  the  oxygen  was  beginning  to  fail. 
Tliey  saw  it  also  by  the  lantern's  liglit,  which  reddened  and 
lost  "a  part  of  its  brightness. 

One  foot  above  the  lirst  hole,  Dick  Sand  began  at  once  to 
]iierce  a  second  by  the  same  process.  If  the  experiment 
failed,  the  water  w^ould  rise  still  higher  inside  the  cone — but 
that  risk  must  be  run. 

While  Dick  sand  was  working  his  anger,  they  heard  Cousin 
Benedict  cry  out,  suddenly: 

"Mercy!  look — look — look  why!" 

Hercules  raised  his  lantern  and  threw  its  light  on  Cousin 
Benedict,  whose  face  expressed  the  most  perfect  satisfaction. 

''Yes,"  repeated  he,  "  look  why  those  intelligent  termites 
have  abandoned  the  ant-hill!  They  had  felt  the  inundation 
beforehand.  Ah!  instinct,  my  friends,  instinct.  The  ter- 
mites are  wiser  than  we  are,  much  wiser." 

And  that  was  all  the  moral  Cousin  Benedict  drew  from  the 
situation. 

At  that  moment  Dick  Sand  drew  out  the  ramrod,  which 
had  penetrated  the  wall.  A  hissing  was  produced.  The 
water  rose  another  loot  inside  the  cone — the  hole  had  not 
reached  the  open  air  outside. 

The  situation  was  dreadful.  Mrs.  Weldon,  then  almost 
reached  by  the  water,  had  raised  little  Jack  in  her  arms.  All 
were  stifling  in  this  narrow  space.     Their  cars  buzzed. 

The  lantern  only  threw  a  faint  light. 

"  Is  the  cone,  tlien,  entirely  under  water?"  murmured 
Dick  Sand. 

He  must  know;  and,  in  order  to  know,  he  must  pierce  a 
third  hole,  at  the  very  top. 

But  it  was  asphyxia,  it  was  immediate  death,  if  the  result 
of  tliis  last  attempt  should  prove  fruitless.  The  air  remain- 
ing inside  would  escape  through  the  upper  sheet  of  water, 
and  the  water  would  fill  the  whole  cone, 

''Mrs.  "Weldon,"  then  sa'd  Dick  Sand,  "you  know  the 
situation.  If  we  delay,  respirable  air  will  fail  us.  If  the 
third  attempt  fails,  Avatcr  will  fill  all  this  space.  Our  only 
chance  is  that  the  summit  of  the  cone  is  above  the  level  of 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN".  213 

the  inundation.  "We  must  try  this  last  experiment.  Are  3-ou 
TV-illing?" 

"Do  it,  Dick!"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon. 

At  that  moment  the  lantern  went  out  in  that  medium  al- 
ready uutit  for  combustion.  Mrs.  AYeldon  and  her  compan- 
ions Vere  plunged  in  the  most  complete  darkness. 

Dick  Sand  was  perched  on  Hercules's  shoulders.  The  lat- 
ter was  hanging  on  to  one  of  the  lateral  cavities.  Only  his 
head  was  above  the  bed  of  water. 

Mrs.  "Weldon,  Jack,  and  Cousin  Benedict  were  in  the  last 
story  of  cells. 

Dick  Sand  scratched  the  wall,  and  his  ramrod  pierced  the 
clay  rapidly.  In  this  place  the  wall,  being  thicker  and  harder 
also,  was  more  difficult  to  penetrate.  Dick  Sand  hastened, 
not  without  terrible  anxiety,  for  by  this  narrow  opening  either 
life  was  going  to  penetrate  with  the  air,  or  with  the  water  it 
was  death. 

Suddenly  a  sharp  hissiug  was  heard.  The  compressed  air 
escaped — but  a  ray  of  daylight  iiltered  through  the  wall. 
The  water  only  rose  eiglit  inches,  and  stopped,  without  Dick 
Sand  being  obliged  to  close  the  hole.  The  equilibrium  was 
established  between  the  level  within  and  that  outside.  The 
summit  of  the  cone  emerged.  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  com- 
panions were  saved. 

At  once,  after  a  frantic  hurra,  in  which  Hercules's  thun- 
dering voice  prevailed,  the  cutlasses  were  put  to  work.  Tlie 
summit,  quickly  attacked,  gradually  crumbled.  The  hole 
was  enlarged,  the  pure  air  entered  in  waves,  and  with  it  the 
first  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  Tlie  top  once  taken  oflf  the  cone, 
it  would  be  easy  to  lioist  themselves  on  to  its  wall,  and  they 
Avould  devise  means  of  reaching  some  neighboring  height, 
above  all  inundations. 

Dick  Sand  first  mounted  to  the  summit  of  the  cone. 

A  cry  escaped  him. 

That  particular  noise,  too  well  known  by  African  travelers, 
the  whizzing  of  arrows,  passed  through  the  air. 

Dick  Sand  had  had  time  to  perceive  a  camp  a  hundred  feet 
from  the  ant-bill,  and  ton  feet  from  the  cone,  on  the  iiiini- 
(hitcd  ])liiin,  long  l)Oiits,  filled  with  natives. 

It  was  from  0110  of  those  l)oats  that  the  flight  of  arrows 
had  come  the  moment  the  young  novice's  liead  aj)peared  out 
of  the  hole. 


214  A   CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN". 

Dick  Saml,  in  a  Avonl,  luul  told  all  to  his  companions. 
Seizing  his  gnn,  followed  by  Hercules,  Actcon,  and  Bat,  he 
roajipeared  at  the  summit  of  the  cone,  and  all  fired  on  one  of 
the  boats. 

Several  natives  fell,  and  yells,  accompanied  by  sliots,  replied 
to  the  detonation  of  the  lire-arms. 

But  what  could  Dick  Sand  and  his  companions  do  against 
a  hundred  Africans,  who  surrounded  them  on  all  sides? 

The  ant-hill  was  assailed.  Mrs.  AVeldon,  her  child,  and 
Cousin  Benedict,  all  were  brutally  snatched  from  it,  and 
without  having  had  time  to  speak  to  each  other  or  to  shake 
hands  for  the  last  time,  they  saAV  themselves  separated  from 
each  other,  doubtless  in  virt-ue  of  orders  previously  given, 

A  last  boat  took  away  Mrs.  Weldon,  little  Jack  and  Cousin 
Benedict,  Dick  Sand  saw  them  disappear  in  the  middle  of 
the  camp. 

As  to  him,  accompanied  by  Nan,  old  Tom,  Hercules,  Bat, 
Acteon  and  Austin,  he  was  thrown  into  a  second  boat,  which 
"went  toward  another  point  of  the  hill. 

Twenty  natives  entered  this  boat. 

It  was  followed  by  five  others. 

Resistance  was  not  possible,  and  nevertheless,  Dick  Sand 
and  his  companions  attempted  it.  Some  soldiers  of  the 
caravan  W'ere  wounded  by  them,  and  certainly  they  would 
have  paid  for  this  resistance  Avith  their  lives,  if  there  had  not 
been  a  formal  order  to  spare  them. 

In  a  few  minutes,  the  passage  was  made.  But  just  as  the 
boat  landed,  Hercules,  with  an  irresistible  boi;nd,  sprang  on 
the  ground.  Two  natives  having  sprung  on  him,  the  giant 
turned  his  gun  like  a  club,  and  the  natives  fell,  with  their 
skulls  broken. 

A  moment  after,  Hercules  disappeared  under  the  cover  of  the 
trees,  in  the  tnidst  of  a  shower  of  balls,  as  Dick  Sand  and  his 
companions,  liaving  been  put  on  land,  were  chained  like  slaves. 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  215 


CHAPTER   Til. 

IN    CA3IP   OK   THE    BANKS    OF   THE    COANZA. 

The  aspect  of  the  country  was  entirely  changed  since  the 
inundation.  It  had  made  a  lake  of  the  plain  where  the 
termite  village  stood.  The  cones  of  twenty  ant-hills  emerged, 
and  formed  the  only  projecting  points  on  this  large  basin. 

The  Coanza  had  overflowed  during  the  night,  with  the 
waters  of  its  tributaries  swelled  by  the  storm. 

This  Coanza,  one  of  the  rivers  of  Angola,  flows  into  the 
Atlantic,  a  hundred  miles  from  the  cape  where  the  ''  Pilgrim  " 
was  wrecked.  It  was  this  river  that  Lieutenant  Cameron 
had  to  cross  some  years  later,  before  reaching  Benguela.  The 
Coanza  is  intended  to  become  the  vehicle  for  the  interior 
transit  of  this  portion  of  the  Portuguese  colony.  Already 
frteamers  ascend  its  lower  course,  and  before  ten  years 
elapse,  they  will  ply  over  its  upper  bed.  Dick  Sand  had  then 
acted  wisely  in  seeking  some  navigable  river  toward  the  north. 
The  rivulet  he  had  followed  had  just  been  emptied  into  the 
Coanza.  Only  for  this  sudden  attack,  of  which  he  had  had 
no  intimationto  put  him  on  his  guard,  he  would  have  found 
the  Coanza  a  mile  farther  on.  His  companions  and  he  would 
liave  embarked  on  a  raft,  easily  constructed,  and  they  would 
have  had  a  good  chance  to  descend  the  stream  to  the  Portu- 
guese villages,  where  the  steamers  come  into  port.  There, 
their  safety  would  be  secured. 

It  would  not  be  so. 

The  camp,  perceived  by  Dick  Sand,  was  established  on  an 
elevation  near  the  ant-hill,  into  which  fate  had  thrown  him, 
as  in  a  trap.  At  the  summit  of  that  elevation  rose  an  enor- 
mous sycamore  fig-tree,  whicii  would  easily  shelter  five  hun- 
dred men  under  its  immense  branches.  'Those  who  have  not 
seeti  tho.=e  giant  trees  of  Central  Africa,  can  form  no  idea  of 
them.  Their  branches  form  a  forest,  and  one  could  be  lost 
in  it.  Fartlier  on,  great  banyans,  of  the  kind  whose  seeds  do 
not  change  into  fruits,  completed  the  outline  of  this  vast 
landscape. 

It  was  under  the  sycamore's  shelter,  hidden,  as  in  a  myste- 
rious asvlum,  that  a  whole  caravan — the  one  whoso  arrival 
Harris  had  announced  to  Negoro — had  just  halted.  This 
numerous  pj-ocession  of  natives,  snatched   from   their  villages 


~10  A    CAITTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

l)y  iho  frador  Alvcz's  agents,  were  going  to  the  Kazoniulo 
market.  Thence  the  slaves,  as  needed,  wonhl  ho  sent  eitlier 
to  the  harracks  of  tlie  west  coast,  or  to  N'yangwe,  toward  the 
great  lake  region,  to  he  distrihutcd  either 'in  upper  Egypt,  or 
in  the  factories  of  Zanzibar. 

As  soon  as  they  arrived  at  the  camp,  Dick  Sand  and  his 
companions  had  been  treated  as  shives.  Old  Tom,  his  son, 
Austin,  Acteon,  poor  Nan,  negroes  by  birth,  though  they  did 
not  belong  to  the  African  race,  were  treated  like  captive 
natives.  After  they  Avere  disarmed,  in  spite  of  the  strongest 
resistance,  they  Avere  held  by  the  throat,  two  by  tv/o,  by 
means  of  a  pole  six  or  seven  feet  long,  forked  at  each  end, 
and  closed  liy  an  iron  rod.  ]iy  this  means  they  were  forced 
to  march  in  line,  one  behind  the  other,  unable  to  get  away 
either  to  the  right  or  to  the  left.  As  an  over  precaution,  a 
heavy  chain  was  attached  to  their  Avaists.  They  had  their 
arms  free,  to  carry  burdens,  their  feet  free  to  march,  but 
they  could  not  use  them  to  flee.  Thus  they  were  going  to 
travel  hundreds  of  miles  under  an  overseer's  lash.  Placed 
apart,  overcome  by  the  reaction  which  followed  the  first  mo- 
ments of  their  struggle  against  the  negroes,  they  no  longer 
made  a  movement.  Why  had  they  not  been  able  to  follow 
Hercules  in  his  flight?  And,  meanwhile,  what  could  they 
hope  for  the  fugitive?  Strong  as  he  was,  Avhat  would  become 
of  him  in  that  inhospitable  country,  where  hunger,  solitude, 
savage  beasts,  natives,  ail  were  against  him?  Would  he  not 
soon  regret  his  companions'  fate?  They,  however,  had  no 
pity  to  expect  from  the  chiefs  of  the  caravan,  Arabs  or  Portu- 
guese, speaking  a  language  they  could  not  understand.  These 
chiefs  only  entered  into  communication  Avith  their  prisoners 
by  menacing  looks  and  gestures. 

Dick  Sand  himself  was  not  coupled  Avilh  any  other  slave. 
He  Avas  a  white  man,  and  probably  they  had  not  dared  to  in- 
flict the  common  treatment  on  him.  Unarmed,  he  had  his 
feet  and  hands  free,  but  a  driver  Avatched  him  especially.  He 
ob>:erved  the  camp,  expecting  each  moment  to  see  Negoro  or 
Harris  appear.  His  expectation  Avas  in  vain.  He  had  no 
doubt,  however,  that  those  tAvo  miserable  men  had  directed 
the  attack  against  the  ant-hill. 

Thus  the  thought  came  to  him  that  Mrs.  Weldon,  little 
Jack,  and  Cousin  Benedict  had  been  led  aAvay  separately  by 
orders  from  the  American  or  fi-om  the  Portuguese.  Seeing 
neither  one  nor  the  other,  he  said  to  himself  that  perhaps  the 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  217 

two  accomplices  even  accompanied  their  victims.  Wlieve 
were  they  leading  them?  What  would  they  do  with  them? 
It  was  his  most  cruel  care.  Dick  Sand  forgot  his  own  situa- 
tion to  think  only  of  Mrs.  Weldon  and  hers. 

The  caravan,  camped  under  the  gigantic  sycamore,  did  not 
count  less  than  eight  hundred  person,  say  five  hundred 
slaves  of  both  sexes,  two  hundred  soldiers,  porters,  marauders, 
guards,  drivers,  agents,  or  chiefs. 

These  chiefs  were  of  Arab  and  Portuguese  origin.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  imagine  the  cruelties  that  these  inhuman 
beings  inflicted  on  their  captives.  They  struck  them  with- 
out relaxation,  and  those  wlio  fell  exhausted,  not  lit  to  be 
sold,  Avere  finished  with  gun-sliots  or  the  knife.  Thus  they 
hold  tliem  by  terror.  But  the  result  of  this  system  is,  that 
on  the  arrival  of  the  caravan,  fifty  out  of  a  hundred  slaves 
are  missing  from  the  trader's  list.  A  few  may  have  escaped, 
but  the  bones  of  those  who  died  from  torture  mark  out  the 
long  routes  from  the  interior  to  the  coast. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  agents  of  European  origin,  Portu- 
guese for  the  most  part,  are  only  rascals  whom  their  country 
has  rejected,  convicts,  escaped  prisoners,  old  slave-drivers 
whom  the  authorities  have  been  unable  to  hang — in  a  word, 
the  refuse  of  humanity.  Such  was  Negoro,  such  was  Harris, 
now  in  the  service  of  one  of  the  greatest  contractors  of  Cen- 
tral Africa,  Jose- Antonio  Alvez,  well  known  by  the  traders 
of  the  province,  about  whom  Lieutenant  Cameron  has  given 
some  curious  information. 

The  soldiers  who  escort  the  captives  are  generally  natives 
in  the  pay  of  the  traders.  But  tlie  latter  have  not  the  mo- 
nopoly of  those  raids  which  procure  the  slaA"Cs  for  them.  The 
negro  kings  also  muke  atrocious  wars  with  each  other,  and 
Avith  the  same  object.  Then  the  vanquished  adults,  the 
Avomen  and  cliildren,  reduced  to  slavery,  are  sold  by  the  van- 
fjuishers  for  a  few  yards  of  calico,  some  iwAvdor,  a  fcAV  fire- 
arms, pink  or  red  ])earls,  and  often  even,  as  Livingstone  says, 
in  periods  of  famine,  for  a  fcAv  grains  of  maize. 

The  soldiers  Avho  escorted  old  Alvez's  caravan  might  give 
a  true  idea  of  Avhat  African  armies  are. 

It  was  an  assemblage  of  negro  bandits,  hardly  clothed,  Avho 
brandished  long  Hint-lock  guns,  the  gun-barrels  garnished 
Avith  a  great  miml)er  of  copper  rings.  AVith  such  an  escort, 
to  Avhich  are  joined  marauders  Avho  are  no  better,  the  agents 
often  have  all  they  can  do.     They  dispute  orders,  they  insist 


918  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

on  (lioir  own  lialtiiif]^  places  and  hours,  they  threaten  to  desert, 
and  it  is  not  rare  for  the  agents  to  be  forced  to  yield  to  the 
exactions  of  this  soldiery. 

Thoui^h  the  slaves,  men  or  women,  are  generally  subjected 
to  carry  burdens  while  the  caravan  is  on  the  march,  yet  a  cer- 
tain number  of  ])orters  accompany  it.  They  are  called  more 
particularly  "  Pagazis,"  and  they  carry  bundles  of  precious 
objects,  ])rincipally  ivory.  Such  is  the  size  of  these  elephants' 
teeth  sometimes,  of  which  some  weigh  as  much  as  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  pounds,  that  it  takes  two  of  these  "  Pagazis" 
to  carry  them  to  the  factories.  Thence  this  precious  mer- 
chandise is  exported  to  the  markets  of  Khartoum,  of  Zanzibar 
and  Natal. 

On  arriving,  these  "  Pagazis  "  are  paid  the  price  agreed 
upon.  It  consists  in  twenty  yards  of  cotton  cloth,  or  of  that 
stuff  wliich  bears  the  name  of  '*  Merikani,"  a  little  powder,  a 
handful  of  cowry  (shells  very  common  in  that  country,  which 
serve  as  money),  a  few  pearls,  or  even  those  of  the  slaves  who 
would  be  difficult  (o  sell.  The  slaves  are  paid,  when  the 
trader  has  no  other  money. 

Among  the  five  hundred  slaves  that  the  caravan  counted, 
there  were  few  grown  men.  That  is  because,  the  "  Razzia" 
being  finished  and  the  village  set  on  fire,  every  native  above 
forty  is  unmercifully  massacred  and  hung  to  a  neighboring 
tree.  Only  the  young  adults  of  both  sexes  and  the  children 
arc  intended  to  furnish  the  markets.  After  these  men-hunts, 
hardly  a  tenth  of  the  vanquished  survive.  This  explains  the 
frightful  depopulation  which  changes  vast  territories  of  equa- 
torial Africa  into  deserts. 

Here,  the  children  and  the  adults  were  hardly  clothed  with 
a  rag  of  that  bark  stuff,  produced  by  certain  trees,  and  called 
''mbouzon"in  the  country.  Thus  the  state  of  this  troop 
of  human  beings,  women  covered  with  wounds  from  the 
*' havildars' "  whips,  children  ghastly  and  meagre,  with 
bleeding  feet,  whom  their  mothers  tried  to  carry  in  addition 
to  their  burdens,  young  men  closely  riveted  to  the  fork,  more 
torturmg  than  the  convict's  cliain,  is  the  most  lamentable 
that  can  be  imagined. 

Yes,  the  sight  of  the  miserable  people,  hardly  living,  whose 
voices  have  no  sound,  ebony  skeletons,  according  to  Living- 
stone's expression,  would  touch  the  hearts  of  wild  beasts, 
liut  so  much  misery  did  not  touch  those  hardened  Arabs  nor 
tliose  Portuguese,  who,  according  to  Lieutenant  Cameron, 


THE     KISti   OK   KAW)fNI>K,    MOINI    IX)l'NOOA,    HAD  COMK  TO    HONOIl   TIIK    OlIKAT 

"lakom"  with  a  vihit.— .SV«  y/Kj/f  249. 


A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN.  219 

are  still  more  cruel.  This  is  what  Cameron  says:  "  To  obtain 
these  fifty  women,  of  whom  Alvez  called  himself  proprietor, 
ten  villages  had  been  destroyed,  ten  villages  having  each  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  souls:  a  total  of  fifteen  hundred 
inhabitants.  Some  had  been  able  to  escape,  but  the  greater 
part — almost  all — had  perished  in  the  flames,  had  been  killed 
in  defending  their  families,  or  had  died  of  hunger  in  the 
jungle,  unless  the  beasts  of  prey  had  terminated  their  suffer- 
ings more  promptly. 

"Those  crimes,  perpetrated  in  the  centre  of  Africa  by 
men  who  boast  of  the  name  of  Christians,  and  consider 
themselves  Portuguese,  Avould  seem  incredible  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  civilized  countries.  It  is  impossible  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  Lisbon  knows  the  atrocities  committed  by  people 
who  boast  of  being  her  subjects." — Tour  of  the  World. 

In  Portugal  there  have  been  very  warm  protestations  against 
these  assertions  of  Cameron's. 

It  need  not  be  said  that,  during  the  marches,  as  during  the 
halts,  the  prisoners  were  very  carefully  guarded.  Thus,  Dick 
Sand  soon  understood  tliat  he  must  not  even  attempt  to  get 
away.  But  then,  how  find  Mrs.  Weldon  again?  That  she 
and  her  child  had  been  carried  away  by  Negoro  was  only  too 
certain.  The  Portuguese  had  separated  her  from  her  com- 
panions for  reasons  unknown  as  yet  to  the  young  novice. 
But  he  could  not  doubt  Kegoro's  intervention,  and  his  heart 
was  breaking  at  the  thought  of  the  dangers  of  all  kinds 
which  threatened  Mrs.  "Weldon. 

"Ah!"  he  said  to  himself,  "  when  I  think  that  I  have  held 
those  two  miserable  men,  both  of  them,  at  the  end  of  my 
gun,  and  that  I  have  not  killed  them!" 

This  thought  was  one  of  those  which  returned  most  per- 
sistently to  Dick  Sand's  mind.  What  misfortunes  the  death, 
tlio  just  death  of  Harris  and  Negoro  might  have  prevented! 
AVhat  misery,  at  least,  for  those  whom  these  brokers  in 
liuman  flesli  were  now  treating  as  slaves! 

All  the  horror  of  Mrs.  Wcldon's  and  little  Jack's  situation 
now  represented  itself  to  Dick  Sand.  Neither  the  mother  nor 
ti)e  child  could  count  on  Cousin  Benedict.  The  poor  man 
could  hardly  take  care  of  himself.  Doubtless  they  were  tak- 
ing all  three  to  some  district  remote  from  the  province  of 
Angola.     But  who  was  carrying  the  still  sick  child? 

"  His  mother;  yes,  his  •mother,"  Dick  Sand  repeated  to 
himself.     "She   will   have   recovered  strength  for  him;  slie 


220  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN". 

will  Imvo  done  what  these  unhappy  female  slaves  do,  and  she 
will  fall  like  them.  Ah!  may  (Jod  put  me  again  in  front  of 
her  executioners,  and  I " 

But  he  was  a  prisoner!  He  counted  one  licad  in  tliis  live- 
stock that  the  overseers  Avero  driving  to  the  interior  of  Africa. 
He  did  not  even  know  whether  Negoro  and  Harris  themselves 
were  directing  the  convoy  of  which  their  victims  made  a  part. 
Dingo  "vvas  no  longer  there  to  scent  tho  Portuguese,  to 
announce  his  approach.  Hercules  alone  might  come  to  the 
assistance  of  the  unfortunate  Mrs.  Weldon.  But  Avas  that 
miracle  to  be  hoped  for? 

However,  Dick  Sand  fell  back  again  on  that  idea.  He  said 
to  himself  that  the  strong  black  man  was  free.  Of  his  devo- 
tion there  was  no  doubt.  All  that  a  human  being  could  do, 
Hercules  Avould  do  in  Mrs.  Wcldon's  interest.  Yes,  either 
Hercules  would  try  to  find  them  and  put  himself  in  commu- 
nication Avith  them;  or  if  that  failed  him,  he  Avould  endeavor 
to  concert  with  him,  Dick  Sand,  and  perhaps  carry  him  off, 
deliA'er  him  by  force.  During  the  night  halts,  mingling  with 
these  prisoners,  black  like  them,  could  he  not  deceive  the 
soldier's  vigilance,  reach  him,  break  his  bonds,  and  lead  him 
away  into  the  forest?  And  both  of  them,  then  free,  Avhat 
would  they  not  do  for  Mrs.  AVeldon's  safety.  A  water  course 
Avould  enable  them  to  descend  to  the  coast.  Dick  Sand 
Avould  again  take  up  that  plan  so  unfortunately  prevented  by 
the  natives'  attack,  Avith  new  chances  of  success  and  a  greater 
knowledge  of  the  difficulties. 

The  young  novice  thus  alternated  betAveen  fear  and  hope. 
In  fact,  he  resisted  despair,  thanks  to  his  energetic  nature, 
and  held  himself  in  readiness  to  profit  by  the  least  chance 
that  might  offer  itself  to  him. 

"What  he  most  desired  to  knoAV  Avas  to  Avhat  market  the 
agents  Avere  taking  the  convoy  of  slaves.  "Was  it  to  one  of 
the  factories  of  Angola,  and  Avould  it  be  an  affair  of  a  few 
halting-places  only,  or  Avould  this  convoy  traA^el  for  hundreds 
of  miles  still,  across  Central  Africa?  The  principal  market 
of  the  contractors  is  that  of  N'yangwe.  in  Manyema,  on  that 
meridian  Avhich  divides  the  African  continent  into  tAvo  almost 
equal  parts,  there  where  extends  the  country  of  the  great 
lakes,  that  Livingstone  Avas  then  traversing.  But  it  Avas  far 
from  the  camp  on  the  Coanza  to  that  village.  Months  of 
travel  Avould  not  suffice  to  reach  it. 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  221 

That  was  one  of  Dick  Sand's  most  serious  thoughts;  for, 
once  at  X'yangwe,  in  case  even  Mrs.  Weldon,  Hercules,  the 
other  bhicks  and  he  should  succeed  in  escajiing,  how  difficult 
it  would  be,  not  to  say  impossible,  to  return  to  the  sea-coast, 
in  the  midst  of  the  dangers  of  such  a  long  route. 

But  Dick  Sand  soon  had  reason  to  think  that  the  convoy 
would  soon  reach  its  destination.  Though  he  did  not  under- 
stand the  language  employed  by  the  chiefs  of  the  caravan, 
sometimes  Arab,  sometimes  the  African  idiom,  he  remarked 
that  the  name  of  an  important  market  of  that  region  was 
often  pronounced.  It  was  the  name  Kazounde,  and  he  knew 
that  a  very  great  trade  in  slaves  was  carried  on  there.  He 
was  then  naturally  led  to  believe  that  there  the  fate  of  the 
prisoners  would  be  decided,  whether  for  the  profit  of  the 
king  of  that  district  or  for  the  benefit  of  some  rich  trader  of 
the  country.     We  know  that  he  was  not  mistaken. 

Now,  Dick  Sand,  being  posted  in  the  facts  of  modern 
geography,  knew  Aery  exactly  what  is  known  of  Kazounde. 
The  distance  from  Saint  Paul  de  Loanda  to  this  city  does  not 
exceed  four  hundred  miles,  and  consequently  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  at  the  most,  separates  it  from  the  camp  estab- 
lished on  the  Coanza.  Dick  Sand  made  liis  calculation  ap- 
proximately, taking  the  distance  traveled  by  the  little  troop 
under  Harris's  lead  as  the  base.  Xow,  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, this  journey  would  only  require  from  ten  to 
twelve  days.  Doubling  that  time  for  the  needs  of  a  caravan 
already  exhausted  by  a  long  route,  Dick  Sand  might  estimate 
the  length  of  the  journey  from  the  Coanza  to  Kazounde  at 
three  weeks. 

Dick  Sand  wished  very  much  to  impart  what  he  believed 
he  knew  to  Tom  and  his  companions.  It  would  be  a  kind  of 
consolation  for  them  to  be  assured  that  they  were  not  being 
led  to  the  centre  of  Africa,  into  those  fatal  countries  which 
they  could  not  hope  to  leave.  Now,  a  few  words  uttered  in 
passing  would  be  sufficient  to  enlighten  them.  AVould  he 
succeed  in  saying  those  words? 

Tom  and  Hat — reliance  had  reunited  the  father  and  son — 
Acteon,  and  Austin,  forked  two  by  two,  were  at  the  right  ex- 
tremity of  the  camp.  An  overseer  and  a  dozen  soldiers 
watched  them. 

Dick  Sand,  free  in  his  movements,  resolved  to  gradually 
diminish  the  distance  that  separated   him    from   his  coni])an- 


223  A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN". 

ions  to  fifty  stops.  Ho  then  commenced  to  manoeuvre  to 
that  end. 

Vcrv  likely  old  Tom  divined  Dick  Sand's  tliought.  A 
wonl,  i>roiu>uncod  in  a  low  voice,  warned  his  companions  to 
be  attentive.  They  did  not  stir,  but  they  kept  themselves 
ready  to  see,  as  well  as  to  hear. 

Soon,  with  an  indiiVercnt  air,  Pick  Sand  had  gained  fifty 
steps  more.  From  the  place  where  he  then  was,  he  could 
have  called  out,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  licard,  that  name 
Kazounde,  and  tell  them  what  the  probable  length  of  the 
journey  would  be.  But  to  complete  his  instructions,  and 
confer  with  them  on  their  conduct  during  the  journey,  would 
be  still  better.  He  then  continued  to  draw  nearer  to  them. 
Already  his  heart  was  beating  with  hope;  he  was  only  a  few 
steps  from  the  desired  end,  when  the  overseer,  as  if  he  had 
suddenly  penetrated  his  intention,  rushed  on  him.  At  the 
cries  of  that  enraged  person,  ten  soldiers  ran  to  the  spot,  and 
Dick  Sand  was  brutally  led  back  to  the  rear,  Avhile  Tom  and 
his  companions  were  taken  to  the  other  extremity  of  the 
camp. 

Exasperated,  Dick  Sand  had  thrown  himself  upon  the  over- 
seer. He  had  ended  by  breaking  his  gun  in  his  hands.  He 
had  almost  succeeded  in  snatching  it  from  him.  But  seven 
or  eight  soldiers  assailed  him  at  once,  and  force  was  used  to 
secure  him.  Furious,  they  would  have  niassacred  him,  if  one 
of  the  chiefs  of  the  caravan,  an  Arab  of  great  height  and 
ferocious  physiognomy,  had  not  intervened.  This  Arab  was 
the  chief  Ibn  Hamis,  of  whom  Harris  had  spoken.  He  pro- 
nounced a  few  words  which  Dick  Sand  could  not  understand, 
and  the  soldiers,  obliged  to  release  their  prey,  went  away. 

It  was,  then,  very  evident,  for  one  thing,  that  there  had 
been  a  formal  order  not  to  allow  the  young  novice  to  com- 
municate with  his  companions;  and  for  another,  that  his  life 
should  not  be  taken. 

"Who  could  have  given  such  orders,  if  not  Harris  or  !Negoro? 

At  that  moment — it  was  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  April 
19th — the  harsh  sounds  from  a  "condou's"  horn  (a  kind  of 
ruminating  animal  among  the  African  deer)  burst  forth,  and 
tiie  drum  was  heard.     The  halt  was  going  to  end. 

All,  chiefs,  ])orters,  soldiei-s,  slaves,  were  immediately  on 
foot.  Laden  with  their  ])acks,  several  groups  of  captives 
were  formed  under  the  leadership  of  an  overseer,  who  un- 
furled a  banner  of  bright  colors. 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  223 

The  signal  for  departure  ^as  given.  Songs  then  rose  on 
the  air;  but  they  were  the  vanquished,  not  the  vanquishers, 
who  sang  thus. 

This  is  wliat  they  said  in  tliese  songs — a  threatening  expres- 
sion of  a  simple  faith  from  the  slaves  against  their  oppressors — 
against  their  executioners: 

"You  have  sent  me  to  the  coast,  but  I  shall  be  dead;  I 
shall  have  a  yoke  no  longer,  and  I  shall  return  to  kill  you." 


CHAPTER  Vlir. 

SOME    OF    DICK    SAXD'S   IfOTES. 

Though  the  storm  of  the  day  before  had  ceased,  the 
•weather  was  still  very  unsettled.  It  was,  besides,  the  period 
of  the  "  masika,"  the  second  period  of  the  rainy  season,  under 
this  zone  of  the  African  heaven.  The  nights  in  particular 
would  be  rainy  during  one,  two,  or  three  weeks,  which  could 
only  increase  tlie  misery  of  the  caravan. 

It  set  out  that  day  in  cloudy  weather,  and,  after  quitting 
the  tanks  of  the  Coanza,  made  its  way  ahnost  directly  to  the 
east.  Fifty  soldiers  marched  at  the  head,  a  hundred  on  each 
of  the  two  sides  of  the  convoy,  the  rest  as  a  rear-guard.  It 
would  be  difficult  for  the  prisoners  to  flee,  even  if  they  had 
not  been  chained.  Women,  children,  and  men  were  going 
pell-mell,  and  the  overseers  urged  them  on  with  the  whip. 
There  were  unfortunate  mothers  who,  nursing  one  child,  held 
a  second  by  the  hand  that  was  free.  Others  dragged  these 
little  beings  along,  without  clothing,  without  shoes,  on  the 
sharp  grasses  of  the  soil. 

The  chief  of  the  caravan,  that  ferocious  Ibn  Hamis,  who 
had  interfered  in  the  struggle  between  Pick  Sand  and  his 
overseer,  watched  this  whole  troop,  going  backwards  and  for- 
wards from  the  head  to  the  foot  of  tlie  long  column.  If  liis 
agents  and  he  troubled  themselves  but  little  about  the  suffer- 
ings of  their  ca])tives,  they  must  reckon  more  seriously  either 
witii  the  soldiers  who  claimed  some  additioiud  rations,  t)rwith 
the  "pagazis"  who  wanted  to  halt.  Thence  discussions; 
often  even  an  exchange  of  brutality.  The  slaves  suffered  more 
from  the  overseers'  constant  irritation.  Nothing  was  lieard 
but  threats  from  one  side,  and  cries  of  grief  from  the  other. 


224  A    C.VPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

Those  who  marched  in  the  lasfc  ranks  treaded  a  soil  that  the 
first  had  stained  with  their  blood. 

Dick  Sand's  companions,  always  carefully  kept  in  front  of 
the  convoy,  could  have  no  communication  with  him.  They 
advanced  in  lile,  the  neck  held  in  the  heavy  fork,  which  did 
not  permit  a  single  head-movement.  The  whips  did  not 
spare  them  any  more  than  their  sad  companions  in  mis- 
fortune. 

Bat,  coupled  with  liis  father,  marched  before  him,  taxing 
his  ingenuity  not  to  shake  the  fork,  choosing  the  best  places 
to  step  on,  because  old  Tom  must  pass  after  him.  From  time 
to  time,  when  the  overseer  was  a  little  behind,  he  uttered  va- 
rious words  of  encouragement,  some  of  which  reached  Tom. 
He  even  tried  to  retard  his  march,  if  he  felt  that  Tom  was 
getting  tired.  It  was  suffering,  for  this  good  son  to  be  un- 
able to  turn  his  head  towards  his  good  father,  whom  he  loved. 
Doubtless,  'J'om  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  son;  how- 
ever, he  paid  dear  for  it.  llow  many  times  great  tears  flowed 
from  his  eyes  when  tlie  overseer's  whip  fell  upon  Bat!  It  was 
a  worse  punishment  than  if  it  had  fallen  on  his  OAvn  flesh. 

Austin  and  Acteon  marched  a  few  steps  behind,  tied  to  each 
other,  and  brutally  treated  every  moment.  Ah,  how  they 
envied  Hercules's  fate!  Whatever  Avere  the  dangers  that 
threatened  the  latter  in  that  savage  country,  ho  could  at  least 
use  his  strength  and  defend  his  life. 

During  the  first  moments  of  their  captivity,  old  Tom  had 
finally  made  known  the  whole  truth  to  his  companions.  They 
had  learned  from  him,  to  their  profound  astonishment,  that 
they  Avere  in  Africa;  that  Negoro's  and  Harris's  double  treach- 
ery had  first  thrown  them  there,  and  then  led  them  away, 
and  that  no  pity  was  to  be  expected  from  their  masters. 

Nan  Avas  not  better  treated.  She  made  part  of  a  group  of 
women  Avho  occupied  the  middle  of  the  convoy.  They  had 
chained  her  with  a  young  mother  of  two  children,  one  at  the 
breast,  the  other  aged  three  years,  who  walked  with  difficulty. 
Nan,  moved  with  i)ity,  had  l>urdened  herself  with  the  little 
creature,  and  the  jjoor  slave  had  thanked  her  by  a  tear.  Nan 
then  carried  the  infant,  at  the  same  tmie,  sparing  her  the 
fatigue,  to  Avhich  she  would  have  yielded,  and  the  blows  the 
overseer  Avould  have  given  her.  But  it  Avas  a  heavy  burden 
for  old  Nan.  She  felt  that  her  strength  Avould  soon  fail  her, 
and  then  she  thought  of  little  Jack.     She  pictured  liim  to 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  225 

herself  in  his  mother's  arms.  Sickness  had  wasted  him  Tery 
much,  but  he  must  be  still  heavy  for  Mrs.  Weldon's  weak- 
ened arms.  Where  was  she?  What  would  become  of  her? 
"Would  her  old  servant  ever  see  her  again? 

Dick  Sand  had  been  placed  almost  in  the  rear  of  the  con- 
voy. He  could  neither  perceive  Tom,  nor  his  companions, 
nor  Xan.  The  head  of  the  long  caravan  was  only  visible 
to  him  when  it  was  crowing  some  plain.  He  walked,  a  prey 
to  the  saddest  thoughts,  from  which  the  agents'  cries  hardly 
drew  his  attention.  He  neither  thought  of  himself,  nor  the 
fatigues  he  must  still  support,  nor  of  the  tortures  probably 
reserved  for  him  by  Xegoro.  He  only  thought  of  Mrs.  Wel- 
don.  In  vain  he  sought  on  the  ground,  on  tlie  brambles  by 
the  paths,  on  the  lower  branches  of  the  trees,  to  find  some 
trace  of  her  ])as3age.  She  could  not  have  taken  another  road, 
if,  as  everything  indicated,  they  were  leading  her  to  Ka- 
zounde.  What  would  lie  not  give  to  find  some  indication  of 
her  march  to  the  destination  where  they  themselves  were  being 
led! 

Such  was  the  situation  of  the  young  novice  and  his  com- 
panions in  body  and  mind.  But  whatever  they  might  have  to 
fear  for  themselves,  great  as  was  their  own  sufferings,  pity 
took  possession  of  them  on  seeing  the  frightful  misery  of 
that  sad  troop  of  captives,  and  the  revolting  brutality  of  their 
masters.  Alas  I  they  could  do  nothing  to  succor  the  afflicted, 
nothing  to  resist  the  others! 

All  the  country  situated  east  of  the  Coanza  was  only  a 
forest  for  over  an  extent  of  tAventy  miles.  The  trees,  how- 
ever, whether  they  perish  under  the  biting  of  the  numerous 
insects  of  these  countries,  or  whether  troops  of  elephants  beat 
them  down  while  they  are  still  young,  are  less  crowded 
here  than  in  the  country  next  to  the  sea-coast.  The  march, 
then,  under  the  trees,  would  not  present  obstacles.  The 
shrubs  might  be  more  troublesome  than  the  trees.  There 
was,  in  fact,  an  abundance  of  those  cotton-trees,  seven  to 
eight  feet  high,  the  cotton  of  which  serves  to  manufacture 
the  black  and  wliitc  striped  stuffs  used  in  the  interior  of  the 
]»rovince. 

In  certain  places,  the  soil  transformed  itself  into  thick 
jungles,  in  which  the  convoy  disa])))earc'd.  Of  all  the  animals 
of  the  country,  the  elephants  and  giraffes  alone  wore  taller 
than  those  reeds  which  resomlile  ])amboos,  those  herbs,  the 
stalks  of  Avhich  measure  an  inch   in  diameter.     The  agents 


226  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN. 

must  know  the  country  marvelously  well,  not  to  be  lost  in 
these  jungles. 

Each  (hiy  the  caravan  set  out  at  daybreak,  and  only  halted 
at  mid-day  for  an  hour.  Some  packs  containing  tapioca  were 
then  opened,  and  this  food  was  parsimoniously  distributed  to 
the  slaves.  To  this  ])()tatoes  were  added,  or  goat's  meat  and 
veal,  when  the  soldiers  had  pillaged  some  village  in  ])assing. 
But  the  fatigue  had  been  such,  the  repose  so  insuflicient,  so 
impossible  even  during  these  rainy  nights,  that  when  the  hour 
for  the  distribution  of  food  arrived  tiie  jjrisoners  could  hardly 
eat.  So,  eight  days  after  the  departure  from  tlie  Coanza, 
twenty  had  fallen  by  the  way,  at  the  mercy  of  the  beasts  that 
prowled  behind  the  convoy.  Lions,  i)anthers  and  leopards 
waited  for  the  victims  which  could  not  fail  them,  and  each 
evening  after  sunset  their  roaring  sounded  at  such  a  short 
distance  that  one  might  fear  a  direct  attack. 

On  hearing  those  roars,  rendered  more  formidable  by  the 
darkness,  Dick  Sand  thought  with  terror  of  the  obstacles 
such  encounters  would  i)resent  against  Hercules's  enterprise, 
of  the  perils  that  menaced  each  of  Ins  steps.  And  meanwhile 
if  he  himself  should  find  an  opportunity  to  flee,  he  would 
not  hesitate. 

Here  are  some  notes  taken  by  Dick  Sand  during  this  jour- 
ney from  the  Coanza  to  Kazonnde.  Twenty-five  "marclies" 
were  employed  to  make  this  distance  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  the  "march"  in  the  traders'  language  being  ten 
miles,  halting  by  day  and  night. 

From  2of?i  to  27(h  April. — Saw  a  village  surrounded  by 
walls  of  reeds,  eight  or  nine  feet  high.  Fields  cultivated 
with  maize,  beans,  "sorghas"and  various  arachidcs.  Two 
blacks  seized  and  made  ])risoners.  Fifteen  killed.  Popula- 
tion fled. 

The  next  day  crossed  an  impetuous  river,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  wide.  Floating  bridge,  formed  of  trunks  of  trees, 
fasTened  with  lianes.  Piles  half  broken.  Two  Avomen,  tied 
to  the  same  fork,  precipitated  into  the  water.  One  was  carry- 
ing her  little  child.  The  waters  are  disturbed  and  become 
stained  with  blood.  Crocodiles  glide  between  the  parts  of 
the  bridge.  There  is  danger  of  stepping  into  their  open 
mouths. 

April  28ih. — Crossed  a  forest  of  bauhiniers.  Trees  of 
straight  timber — those  wliich  furnish  the  iron  wood  for  the 
Portuguese. 


A   CAPTAIS"  AT  FIFTEEIT.  227 

Heavy  rain.     Earth  -wet.     March  extremely  painful. 

Perceived,  toward  the  center  of  the  convoy,  poor  Xan,  car- 
rying a  little  negro  child  in  her  arms.  She  drags  herself 
along  with  difficulty.  The  slave  chained  with  her  limps,  and 
the  blood  flows  from  her  slioulder,  torn  by  lashes  from  the 
Avhip. 

In  the  evening  camped  under  an  enormous  baobab  with 
white  flowers  and  a  light  green  foliage. 

During  the  night  roars  of  lions  and  leopards.  Shots  fired 
by  one  of  the  natives  at  a  panther.  lAliat  has  become  of 
Hercules? 

April  29tJi  and  30/7/. — First  colds  of  -what  they  call  the 
African  winter.  Dew  very  abundant.  End  of  the  rainy 
season  with  the  month  of  April;  it  commences  with  the  month 
of  November.  Plains  still  largely  inundated.  East  winds 
which  check  perspiration  and  renders  one  more  liable  to  take 
the  marsh  fevers. 

Xo  trace  of  Mrs.  Weldon,  nor  of  Mr.  Benedict.  Where 
would  they  take  them,  if  not  to  Kazounde?  They  must  have 
followed  the  road  of  the  caravan  and  preceded  us.  I  am 
eaten  up  with  anxiety.  Little  Jack  must  be  seized  again 
with  the  fever  in  this  unhealthy  region.  But  does  he  still 
live? 

From  May  !.«/  to  2fai/  f)fJi. — Crossed,  with  several  halt- 
ing places,  long  plains,  which  evaporation  has  not  been  able 
to  dry  up.  Water  everywhere  up  to  the  waist.  Myriads  of 
leeches  adhering  to  the  skin.  We  must  march  for  all  that. 
On  some  elevations  that  emerge  are  lotus  and  papyrus.  At 
the  bottom,  under  tlie  water,  other  plants,  witli  large  cab- 
bage leaves,  on  which  the  feet  slip,  v.hich  occasions  numerous 
falls. 

In  these  waters,  considerable  quantities  of  little  fish  of  the 
silurus  species.  The  natives  catch  them  by  billions  in  wick- 
ers and  sell  them  to  the  caravans. 

Impossible  to  find  a  place  to  camp  for  the  night.  We  see 
no  limit  to  the  inundated  ])lain.  AVe  must  march  in  the  dark. 
To-morrow  many  slaves  will  be  missing  from  the  convoy. 
What  misery  I  When  one  falls,  why  get  up  again?  A  few 
moments  more  under  those  waters,  and  all  would  bo  finished. 
The  overseer's  stick  would  not  reach  you  in  the  darkness. 

Yes,  but  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  son!  I  have  not  the  right 
to  abandon  them.     I  shall  resist  to  the  end.     It  is  my  duty. 

Dreadful  cries   are   hoard   in  the  night.     Twenty  soldiers 


228  A   CACTAIlSr   AT  FIFTEEN". 

have  torn  some  branches  from  resinous  trees  whose  branches 
were  above  water.     Livid  lights  in  tbe  darkness. 

This  is  tlic  cause  of  the  cries  I  hoard.  An  attack  of  croco- 
diles; twelve  or  lifteen  of  those  monsters  have  thrown  them- 
selves in  the  darkness  on  the  flank  of  the  caravan. 

Women  and  children  have  been  seized  and  carried  away  by 
the  crocodiles  to  their  ''pasture  lands  " — so  Livingstone  calls 
those  deep  holes  where  this  amphibious  animal  deposits  its 
prey,  after  having  drowned  it,  for  it  only  eats  it  when  it  has 
reached  a  certain  degree  of  decomposition. 

I  have  been  rudely  grazed  by  the  scales  of  one  of  these 
crocodiles.  An  adult  slave  has  been  seized  near  me  and  torn 
from  the  fork  that  held  him  by  tlie  neck.  The  fork  was 
broken.  What  a  cry  of  despair!  What  a  howl  of  grief!  I 
hear  it  still! 

May  7fh  and  Sth. — Tlie  next  day  they  count  the  victims. 
Twenty  slaves  have  disappeared. 

At  daybreak  I  look  for  Tom  and  his  companions.  God  be 
praised!  they  are  living.  Alas!  ought  I  to  praise  God?  Is  one 
not  happier  to  be  done  with  all  this  misery? 

Tom  is  at  the  head  of  tlie  convoy.  At  a  moment  when  his 
son  Bat  made  a  turn,  the  fork  was  presented  obliquely,  and 
Tom  was  able  to  see  m3. 

I  search  in  vain  for  old  N^an.  Is  she  in  the  central  group? 
or  has  she  perished  during  that  frightful  night? 

The  next  day,  passed  the  limit  of  the  inundated  plain, 
after  twenty-four  hours  in  the  water.  We  halt  on  a  hill. 
The  sun  dries  us  a  little.  We  eat,  but  what  miserable  food! 
A  little  tapioca,  a  few  handfuls  of  maize.  Nothing  but  the 
troubled  water  to  drink.  Prisoners  extended  on  the  ground 
— how  many  will  not  get  up! 

No!  it  is  not  possible  that  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  son  have 
passed  through  so  much  misery!  God  would  be  so  gracious 
to  them  as  to  have  thorn  led  to  Kazounde  by  another  road. 
Tiic  unhappy  mother  could  not  resist. 

New  case  of  small-pox  in  the  caravan;  the  "ndoue,"  as 
they  say.  The  sick  could  not  be  able  to  go  far.  Will  they 
abandon  them? 

May  i)fh. — They  have  begun  the  march  again  at  sunrise. 
No  laggards.  The  overseer's  whip  has  quickly  raised  those 
overcome  by  fatigue  or  sickness.  Those  slaves  have  a  value: 
they  are  money.  The  agents  will  not  leave  them  behind 
while  th?v  have  strength  enough  to  march. 


A  CAPTAIN"  AT  FIFTEEN".  339 

I  am  surrounded  by  living  skeletons.  They  have  no  longer 
voice  enough  to  complain.  I  have  seen  old  Nan  at  last.  She 
is  a  sad  sight.  The  child  she  was  carrying  is  no  longer  in  her 
arms.  She  is  alone,  too.  That  will  be  less  painful  for  her; 
but  the  chain  is  still  around  her  waist,  and  she  has  been 
obliged  to  throw  the  end  over  her  shoulder. 

By  hastening,  I  have  been   able  to  draw  near  her.     One 
would  say  that  she  did  not    recognize  me.      Am  I,    then, 
changed  to  that  extent? 
"  Nan,"  I  said. 

The  old  servant  looked  at  me  a  long  time,  and  then  she 
exclaimed: 

"  You,  Mr.  Dick!     I— I— before  long  I  shall  be  dead!" 
"No,  no!     Courage!"  I  replied,  while    my  eyes  fell  so  as 
not  to  see  what  was  only  the  unfortunate    woman's  bloodless 
spectre. 

"Dead!"  she  continued;  "and  I  shall  not  see  my  dear 
mistress  again,  nor  my  little  Jack.  My  God!  my  God!  have 
pity  on  me!" 

I  wished  to  support  old  Nan,  whose  whole  body  trembled 
under  her  torn  clothing.  It  would  have  been  a  mercy  to  see 
myself  tied  to  her,  and  to  carry  my  part  of  that  chain,  whose 
whole  weight  she  bore  since  her  coui})anion*s  death. 

A  strong  arm  pushes  me  back,  and  the  un]ia{)py  Nan  is 
thrown  back  into  the  crowd  of  slaves,  lashed  by  the  whips. 

I  wished  to  throw  myself  on  that  brutal The  Arab  chief 

appears,  seizes  my  arm,  and  holds  mc  till  I  find  myself  again 
in  the  caravan's  last  rank. 

Then,  in  his  turn,  he  pronounces  the  name,  "Negoro!" 
Negoro!     It  is  then  by  the  Portuguese's  orders  that  he  acts 
and  treats  mo  diflerently  from  my  companions  in  misfortune? 
For  what  fate  am  I  reserved? 

Mar/  \()th. — To-day  passed  near  two  villages  in  ilames.  The 
stubbie  burns  on  all  sides.  Dead  bodies  arc  hung  from  the 
trees  the  fire  has  spared.  Population  (led.  Fields  devas- 
tated. The  razzie  is  exercised  there.  Two  hundred  mur- 
ders, pcrlia[)S,  to  obtain  a  dozen  slaves. 

tlvening  has  arrived.  Halt  for  the  night.  Cam])  made 
under  great  trees.  High  shrubs  forming  a  thicket  on  the 
border  of  the  forest. 

Some  prisoners  fled  the  night  before,  after  breaking  their 
forks.      Tliey  have  been   retaken,  ami   treated  witli  unprcce- 


'.*;U)  A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN". 

dented  cruelty.  The  soldiers'  iind  ovcrsecrb'  watchfulness  is 
redoubled. 

^Night  has  come.  Roaring  of  lions  and  liyenas.  Distant 
snorting  of  hipi)opotami.  Doubtless  some  lake  or  water- 
course near. 

In  spite  of  my  fatigue,  I  cannot  sleep.  I  tliink  of  so  many 
things. 

Then,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  hear  prowling  in  the  high 
grass.  Some  animal,  perhaps.  Would  it  dare  force  an  en- 
trance into  the  camp? 

I  listen.  iSiothing!  Yes!  An  animal  is  passing  through 
the  reeds.  I  am  unarmed!  I  shall  defend  myself,  neverthe- 
less. My  life  may  be  useful  to  Mrs.  Weldon,  to  my  compan- 
ions. 

I  look  through  the  profound  darkness.  There  is  no  moon. 
The  night  is  extremely  dark. 

Two  eyes  shine  in  (he  darkness,  among  the  papyrus — two 
eyes  of  a  hyena  or  a  leopard.     They  disap])ear — reappear. 

At  last  there  is  a  rustling  of  the  bushes.  An  animal 
springs  upon  me! 

I  am  going  to  cry  out,  to  give  the  alarm.  Fortunately,  I 
was  able  to  restrain  myself.  I  cannot  believe  my  eyes!  It  is 
Dingo!  Dingo,  who  is  near  me!  Brave  Dingo!  How  is  it 
restored  to  me?  IIow  has  it  been  able  to  find  me  again? 
Ah!  instinct!  "Would  instinct  be  sulKcient  to  explain  such 
miracles  of  fidelity?  It  licks  my  hands.  Ah!  good  dog, 
now  my  only  friend,  they  have  not  killed  you,  then! 

I  return  its  caresses.     It  understands  me. 

It  wanted  to  bark. 

I  calm  it.     It  must  not  be  heard. 

Let  it  follow  the  caravan  in  this  way,  without  being 
seen,  and  perliapf But  what!  It  rubs  its  neck  obsti- 
nately against  my  hands.  It  seems  to  say  to  me:  "  Look  for 
something."  I  look,  and  I  feel  something  there,  fastened  to 
its  neck.  A  piece  of  reed  is  slipped  under  the  collar,  on 
which  are  gi-aven  those  two  letters,  S.  V.,  the  mystery  of 
Avhich  is  still  inexplicable  to  us. 

Yes.  I  have  unfastei  td  the  reed.  I  have  broken  it! 
There  is  a  letter  inside.  But  this  letter. — I  cannot  read  it. 
I  must  wait  for  daylight  !^daylight!  I  should  like  to  keep 
Dingo;  but  the  good  animal,  even  while  licking  my  hands, 
seems  in  a  luirry  to  leave  me.  It  understands  that  its  mis- 
sion is  finished.     With  one  bound  aside,  it  disappeared  among 


A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN".  231 

the  bnslies  without  noise.  ^lay  God  spare  it  from  the  lions' 
and  hyenas'  teeth! 

Dingo  has  certainly  returned  to  him  v»ho  sent  it  to  me. 

This  letter,  that  I  cannot  yet  read,  turns  my  hands!  "Who 
has  "written  it?  T\'ould  it  come  from  Mrs.  Weldon?  Does  it 
come  from  Hercules?  How  has  the  faithful  animal,  that  we 
believed  dead,  met  cither  the  one  or  the  other?  AYhat  is  this 
letter  going  to  tell  me?  Is  it  a  plan  of  escape  that  it  brings 
me?  Or  does  it  only  give  me  news  of  those  dear  to  me? 
Whatever  it  may  be,  this  incident  has  greatly  moved  me,  and 
has  relaxed  my  misery. 

Ah!  the  day  comes  so  slowly.  I  watch  for  the  least  light  on 
the  horizon.  I  cannot  close  my  eyes.  I  still  hear  the  roar- 
ing of  the  animals.  My  poor  Dingo,  can  you  escape  them? 
At  last  day  is  going  to  appear,  and  almost  without  dawn, 
inider  these  tropical  latitudes. 

I  settle  myself  so  as  not  to  be  seen.  I  try  to  read — I  can- 
not yet.  At  last  I  have  read.  The  letter  is  from  Hercules's 
hand.  It  is  written  on  a  bit  of  paper,  in  i^encil.  Here  is 
what  it  says: 

*'  Mrs.  "Weldon  was  taken  away  with  little  Jack  in  a  Tcitancla. 
Harris  and  Xegoro  accompany  it.  They  precede  the  caravan 
by  three  or  four  marches,  Avith  Cousin  Benedict.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  communicate  with  her.  I  have  found  Dingo, 
who  must  have  been  wounded  by  a  shot,  but  cured.  Good 
hope,  Mr.  Dick.  I  only  think  of  you  all,  and  I  fled  to  be 
more  useful  to  you,  Hercules." 

Ah!  Mrs,  TTeldon  and  her  son  are  living.  God  be  praised! 
'I'hey  have  not  to  suffer  the  fatigues  of  these  rude  halting- 
places.  A  kifanda — it  is  a  kind  of  litter  of  dry  grass,  sus- 
pended to  a  long  bamboo,  that  two  men  carry  on  the  shoul- 
der. A  stuff  curtain  covers  it  over.  Mrs.  t\'eldon  and  her 
little  .Jack  are  in  that  kifcnida.  What  docs  Harris  and  Ke- 
goro  want  lo  do  with  tliem?  Those  wretches  are  evidently 
going  to  Kiizounde.  Yes,  yes,  I  shall  find  them  again.  Ah! 
in  all  this  mi.sei'y  it  is  good  news,  it  is  joy  that  Dingo  has 
brought  me! 

From  Maji  Wtli,  to  li)lli. — The  caravan  continues  itsmaich. 
Tlie  prisoners  drag  themselves  along  more  and  more  ]iain- 
fiilly.  The  majority  have  marks  of  blood  under  their  feet. 
1  calculate  that  it  will  take  ten  days  more  to  reach  Kazounde. 


332  A   CAPTAIN"   AT  FIFTEEN. 

]\o\v  many  will  have  coasod  to  suffer  before  then?  But  I — 
1  must  arrive  tlicre,  I  shall  arrive  there. 

It  is  atrocious!  There  are,  in  the  convoy,  unfortunate 
ones  whose  bodies  are  only  wounds.  The  cords  that  bind 
thom  enter  into  the  llcsh. 

.Since  yesterday  a  mother  carries  in  her  arms  her  little  in- 
fant, dead  from  hunger.     She  will  not  separate  from  it. 

Our  route  is  strewn  with  dead  bodies.  The  small-pox 
rages  with  new  violence. 

AV^e  have  just  passed  near  a  tree.  To  this  tree  slaves  were 
attached  by  the  neck.     They  were  left  there  to  die  of  hunger. 

From  May  Idfh  to  2Uh. — I  am  almost  exhausted,  but  I 
have  no  right  to  give  up.  The  rains  have  entirely  ceased. 
We  have  days  of  "hard  marching."  That  is  what  the 
traders  call  the  "  tirikcsa,"  or  afternoon  march.  We  must 
go  faster,  and  the  ground  rises  in  rather  steep  ascents. 

AVe  pass  through  high  shrubs  of  a  very  tough  kind.  They 
are  the  "  nyassi,"  the  branches  of  which  tear  the  skin  off  my 
face,  whose  sharp  seeds  penetrate  to  my  skin,  under  my  di- 
lapidated clothes.  My  strong  boots  have  fortunately  kept 
good. 

The  agents  have  commenced  to  abandon  the  slaves  too  sick 
to  keep  up.  Besides,  food  threatens  to  fail;  soldiers  and 
pagazis  would  revolt  if  their  rations  were  diminished.  They 
dare  not  retrench  from  them,  and  then  so  much  worse  for  the 
captives. 

'•  Let  them  cat  one  another!"  said  the  chief. 

Then  it  follows  that  young  slaves,  still  strong,  die  without 
the  appearance  of  sickness.  I  remember  what  Dr.  Living- 
stone has  said  on  that  subject:  *'  Those  unfortunates  complain 
of  the  heart;  they  put  their  hands  there,  and  they  fall.  It  is 
positively  the  heart  that  breaks!  That  is  peculiar  to  free 
men,  reduced  to  slavery  unexpectedly!" 

To-day,  twenty  captives  who  could  no  longer  drag  them- 
selves along,  have  been  massacred  with  axes,  by  the  havildars! 
1'he  Arab  chief  is  not  opposed  to  massacre.  The  scene  has 
been  friglitfnl! 

Poor  old  Xan  has  fallen  under  the  knife,  in  this  horrible 
butchery!  I  strike  against  her  corpse  in  passing!  I  cannot 
even  give  her  a  Christian  burial! 

She  is  first  of  the  ''Pilgrim's"  survivors  whom  God  has 
called  back  to  him.     Poor  good  creature!     Poor  Nan! 


A   CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEN.  233 

I  watch  for  Dingo  every  night.  It  returns  no  more!  Has 
misfortune  overtaken  it  or  Hercules?  Nol  no!  I  do  not  want 
to  believe  it!  This  silence  which  appears  so  long  to  me,  only 
proves  one  thing — it  is  that  Hercules  has  nothing  new  to  tell 
me  yet.     Besides,  he  must  be  prudent,  and  on  his  guard. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

KAZOUNDE. 

Ox  May  26th,  the  caravan  of  slaves  arrived  at  Kazounde. 
Fifty  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  last  raid  had 
fallen  on  the  road.  Meanwhile,  the  business  was  still  good 
for  the  traders;  demands  were  coming  in,  and  the  price  of 
slaves  was  about  to  rise  in  the  African  markets. 

Angola  at  this  period  did  an  immense  trade  in  blacks.  The 
Portuguese  authorities  of  Saint  Paul  de  Lounda,  or  of  Ben- 
guela,  could  not  stop  it  without  difficulty,  for  the  convoys 
traveled  towards  the  interior  of  tlie  African  continent.  Tiie 
pens  near  the  coast  overflowed  with  prisoners,  the  few  slavers 
that  succeeded  in  eluding  the  cruisers  along  the  shore  not 
being  sufficient  to  curry  all  of  them  to  the  Spanish  colonies  of 
America. 

Kazounde,  situated  three  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Coanza,  is  one  of  the  principal  "lakonis,''  one  of  the 
most  important  markets  of  the  province.  On  its  grand  square 
the  '' tchitoka"  business  is  transacted;  there,  the  slaves  are 
exposed  and  sold.  It  is  from  this  point  that  the  caravans 
radiate  toward  the  region  of  the  great  lakes. 

Kazounde,  like  all  the  large  towns  of  Central  Africa,  is 
divided  into  two  distinct  parts.  One  is  the  quarter  of  the 
Arab,  Portuguese  or  native  traders,  and  it  contains  their 
pens;  the  other  is  the  residence  of  the  negro  king,  some  fero- 
cious crowned  drunkard,  Avho  reigns  through  terror,  and 
lives  from  supplies  furnished  by  the  contractors. 

At  Kazounde,  the  commercial  quarter  then  behmged  to 
that  .Jose- Antonio  Alvcz,  of  whom  Harris  and  !Nogoro  had 
spoken,  they  being  simply  agents  in  his  pay.  'JMiis  con- 
tractors ])rincipal  establishment  was  there,  he  had  a  second 
at  Bihe,  and  a  third  at  Cassange,  in  Bcnguela,  which  Jiieu- 
tenant  Cameron  visited  some  years  later. 


234  A    CAPTAIJf   AT    FIFTEEN. 

Imagine  a  largo  central  street,  on  each  side  groups  of 
houses,  *'  tombe's  "  with  Hat  roofs,  -walls  of  baked  earth,  and 
a  square  court  which  served  as  an  enclosure  for  cattle.  At 
the  end  of  the  street,  was  the  vast  "tchitoka"  surrounded 
by  slave-pens.  Al)ove  this  collection  of  buildings  rose  some 
enormous  banyans,  whose  branches  swayed  with  graceful 
movements.  Here  and  there  great  palms,  Avith  their  heads 
in  the  air,  drove  the  dust  on  the  streets  like  brooms.  Twenty 
birds  of  prey  watched  over  the  public  health.  Such  is  the 
business  quarter  of  Kazounde. 

Near  by  ran  the  Louhi,  a  river  whose  course,  slill  undeter- 
mined, is  an  allluent,  or  at  least  a  sub-affluent  of  the  Coango, 
a  tributary  of  the  Zoire. 

The  residence  of  the  King  of  Kazounde,  which  borders  on 
the  business  quarter,  is  a  confused  collection  of  ill-built  hovels, 
which  spread  over  the  space  of  a  mile  square.  Of  these 
hovels,  some  are  open,  others  are  enclosed  by  a  palisade  of 
reeds,  or  bordered  with  a  hedge  of  fig-trees.  In  one  particu- 
lar enclosure,  surrounded  by  a  fence  of  papyrus,  thirty  of 
these  huts  served  as  dwellings  for  the  chiefs'  slaves,  in 
another  group  liAcd  his  wives,  and  a  "  tembe,"  still  larger 
and  higher,  Avas  half  hidden  in  a  plantation  of  cassada.  Such 
was  the  residence  of  the  King  of  Kazounde,  a  man  of  fifty — 
named  Moini  Loungga;  and  already  almost  deprived  of  the 
power  of  his  predecessors.  He  had  not  four  thousand  of 
soldiers  there,  where  the  principal  Portuguese  traders  could 
count  twenty  thousand,  and  he  could  no  longer,  as  in  former 
times,  decree  the  sacrifice  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  slaves  a  day. 

This  king  was,  besides,  a  iirematurely-aged  man,  exhausted 
by  debauch,  crazed  by  strong  drink,  a  ferocious  maniac,  mu- 
tilating his  subjects,  his  officers  or  his  ministers,  as  the  whim 
seized  him,  cutting  the  nose  and  ears  off  some,  and  the  foot 
or  the  hand  from  others.  His  own  death,  not  unlooked  for, 
would  be  received  without  regret. 

A  single  man  in  all  Kazounde,  might,  perhaps,  lose  by  the 
death  of  Moini  Loungga,  This  was  the  contractor,  Jose- 
Antonio  Alvez,  who  agreed  very  well  with  the  drunkard, 
whose  authority  w;is  recognized  by  the  whole  province.  If 
the  accession  of  his  first  wife.  Queen  Moini,  should  be  con- 
tested, the  States  of  Moini  Loungga  might  be  invaded  by  a 
neighboring  competitor,  one  of  the  kings  of  Oukonson.  The 
latter,  being  younger  and  more  active,  had  already  seized 
some  villages  belonging  to  the  Kazounde  government.     He 


TIIK    KIM.    llAll   TAKKN    HKh    i.lKh    A    I'K  i  li<  .I.Ki  M    In  .N   In  ..S.  -  A< ,    //./i/.     'Shi. 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  235 

had  in  his  services  another  trader,  a  rival  of  Alvez,  Tipo-Tipo, 
a  black  Arab  of  a  pure  race,  -whom  Cameron  met  at 
N'yangwe. 

What  Avas  this  Alvez,  the  real  sovereign  under  the  reign  of 
an  imbruted  negro,  whose  vices  he  had  developed  and  served? 

Jose-Antonio  Alvez,  already  advanced  in  years,  Avas  not,  as 
one  might  suppose,  a  "  msoungou,''  tliat  is  to  say,  a  man  of 
the  white  race.  There  was  nothing  Portuguese  about  him 
but  his  name,  borrowed,  no  doubt,  for  the  needs  of  commerce. 
He  was  a  real  negro,  well  known  among  traders,  and  called 
Kenndele.  He  was  born,  in  fact,  at  Donndo,  or  the  borders 
of  the  Coanza.  He  had  commenced  by  being  simply  the 
agent  of  the  slave-brokers,  and  would  have  finished  as  a 
famous  trader,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  skin  of  an  old  knave, 
Avho  called  himself  the  most  honest  man  in  the  Avorld. 

Cameron  met  this  Alvez  in  the  latter  part  of  1874,  at 
Kilemmba,  the  capital  of  Kassonngo,  chief  of  Ouroua.  He 
guided  Cameron  Avith  his  caravan  to  his  own  establishment 
at  Bihe,  over  a  route  of  seven  hundred  miles. 

The  convoy  of  slaves,  on  arriving  at  Kazounde,  liad  been 
conducted  to  the  large  square. 

It  was  the  26th  of  May.  Dick  Sand's  calculations  were 
then  verified.  The  journey  had  lasted  thirty- eight  days  from 
the  departure  of  the  army  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the 
Coanza.  Five  weeks  of  the  most  fearful  miseries  that  human 
beings  could  support. 

It  was  noon  when  the  train  entered  Kazounde.  The  drums 
were  beaten,  horns  were  blown  in  the  midst  of  the  detonations 
of  fire-arms.  The  soldiers  guarding  the  caravan  discliarged 
their  guns  in  the  air,  and  tiie  men  employed  by  Jose- Antonio 
Alvez  "replied  with  interest.  All  these  bandits  were  happy  at 
meeting  again,  after  an  absence  Avhich  had  lasted  for  four 
months.  Tliey  were  now  going  to  rest  and  make  up  for  lost 
time  in  excesses  and  idleness. 

The  prisoners  then  formed  a  total  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty,  the  majority  being  completely  exhausted.  After  hav- 
ing'been  driven  like  cattle,  they  were  to  be  shut  up  in  pens, 
which  AmeiieaJi  farmers  would  not  have  used  for  ]iigs. 
'^rwclvc  or  fifteen  hundred  other  captives  awaited  Ihem,  all  of 
whom  would  be  exj)Os('d  in  the  market  at  Kazounde  on  ihc 
next  day  but  one.  These  ])ens  were  filled  up  with  the  slaves 
from  the  caravan.  The  heavy  forks  had  been  taken  olT  tiu'ni, 
but  they  were  still  in  chains. 


230  A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN". 

Tlie  '*  iiairazis'' liad  stopped  on  tlic  square  after  having 
disposed  of  their  loads  of  ivory,  whieli  the  Kazounde  dealers 
would  deliver.  Then,  being  paid  with  a  few  yards  of  calico 
or  other  stutf  at  the  highest  price,  they  would  return  and  join 
some  other  caravan. 

Old  Tom  and  his  companions  had  been  freed  from  the  iron 
collar  which  they  had  carried  for  five  weeks.  Bat  and  his 
father  embraced  each  other,  ami  all  shook  hands;  but  no  one 
ventured  to  speak.  What  could  they  say  that  would  not  be 
an  expression  of  despair.  Bat,  Acteon  and  Austin,  all  three 
vigorous,  accustomed  to  hard  work,  had  been  able  to  resist 
fatigue;  but  old  Tom,  weakened  by  privations,  was  nearly 
exhausted.  A  few  more  days  and  his  corpse  would  have  been 
left,  like  poor  Nan's,  as  food  for  the  beasts  of  the  province. 

As  soon  as  they  arrived,  the  four  men  had  been  placed  in  a 
narrow  pen,  and  the  door  had  been  at  once  shut  upon  them. 
There  they  had  found  some  food,  and  they  awaited  the 
trader's  visit,  with  whom,  although  quite  in  vain,  they  in- 
tended to  urge  the  fact  that  they  were  Americans. 

Dick  Sand  had  remained  alone  on  the  square,  under  the 
special  care  of  a  keeper. 

At  length  he  was  at  Kazounde,  where  he  did  not  doubt  that 
^Nfrs.  Weldbn,  little  Jack,  and  Cousin  Benedict  had  preceded 
him.  He  had  looked  for  them  in  crossing  the  various  quar- 
ters of  the  town,  even  in  the  depths  of  the  "tembes"  that 
lined  the  streets,  on  this  '*' tchitoka"  now  almost  deserted. 

Mrs.  Weldon  was  not  there. 

"Have  they  not  brought  her  here?"  ho  asked  himself. 
"  But  where  could  she  be?  No;  Hercules  cannot  be  mistaken. 
Then,  again,  he  must  have  learned  the  secret  designs  of  Ne- 
goro  and  Harris;  yet  they,  too — I  do  not  see  them." 

Dick  Sand  felt  the  most  painful  anxiety.  He  could  under- 
stand that  Mrs.  Weldon,  retained  a  prisoner,  would  be  con- 
cealed from  him.  But  Harris  and  Negoro,  particularly  the  lat- 
ter, should  hasten  to  see  him,  now  in  tlieir  power,  if  only  to  en- 
joy their  triumph — to  insult  him,  torture  him,  perhaps  avenge 
themselves.  From  the  fact  that  they  were  not  there,  must 
he  conclude  that  they  had  taken  another  direction,  and  that 
;Mrs,  AVeldon  was  to  be  conducted  to  some  other  point  of 
Central  Africa?  Should  the  ])resence  of  the  American  and 
the  Portuguese  be  the  signal  for  his  punishment,  Dick  Sand 
imj)atiently  desired  it.     Harris  and  Negoro  at  Kazounde,  was 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEIi.  237 

for  him  the  certainty  that  Mrs.  "Weldon  and  lier  child  were 
also  there. 

Dick  Sand  then  told  himself  that,  since  the  night  when 
Dingo  had  brought  him  Hercules's  note,  the  dog  had  not  been 
seen.  The  young  man  hud  prepared  an  answer  at  great  risks. 
In  it  he  told  Hercules  to  think  only  of  Mrs.  Weldon,  not  to 
lose  sight  of  her,  and  to  keep  her  informed  as  well  as  possi- 
ble of  what  happened;  but  he  had  not  been  able  to  send  it  to 
its  destination.  If  Dingo  had  been  able  to  penetrate  the 
ranks  of  the  caravan  once,  why  did  not  Hercules  let  him  try 
it  a  second  time?  Had  the  faithful  animal  perished  in  some 
fruitless  attempt?  Perhaps  Hercules  was  following  Mrs. 
"Weldon,  as  Dick  Sand  would  have  done  in  his  place.  Fol- 
lowed by  Dingo,  he  might  have  plunged  into  the  depths 
of  the  woody  plateau  of  Africa,  in  the  hope  of  reaching  one 
of  the  interior  establishments. 

What  could  Dick  Sand  imagine  if,  in  fact,  neither  Mrs. 
Weldon  nor  her  enemies  were  there?  He  had  been  so  sure, 
perhaps  foolishly,  of  finding  them  at  Kazounde,  that  not  to 
see  them  there  at  once  gave  him  a  terrible  shock.  He  felt  a 
sensation  of  despair  that  he  could  not  subdue.  His  life,  if  it 
were  no  longer  useful  to  those  whom  he  loved,  was  good  for 
nothing,  and  ho  had  only  to  die.  But.  in  thinking  in  that 
manner,  Dick  Sand  mistook  his  own  character.  Under  the 
pressure  of  these  trials,  the  child  became  a  man,  and  with 
l)im,  discouragement  could  only  be  an  accidental  tribute  paid 
to  human  nature. 

A  loud  concert  of  trumpet-calls  and  cries  suddenly  com- 
menced. Dick  Sand,  who  had  just  sunk  down  in  the  dust  of 
the  "tchitoka,"  stood  up.  Every  new  incident  might  put 
him  on  the  track  of  those  whom  he  sought. 

In  despair  a  moment  before,  he  now  no  longer  despaired. 

"  AlvezI  AlvezI"  This  name  was  repeated  by  a  crowd  of 
natives  and  soldiers  who  now  invaded  the  grand  s((uare.  The 
man  on  whom  the  fate  of  so  many  unfortunate  people  de- 
pended, was  about  to  appear.  It  was  possible  that  his  agents, 
Harris  and  Negoro,  were  with  him.  Dick  Sand  stood  up- 
right, his  eyes  open,  his  nostrils  dilated.  The  two  traitors 
would  find  this  lad  of  fifteen  years  before  them,  ujiright.  firm, 
looking  them  in  the  face.  It  would  not  bo  the  caplain  of  tlio 
"Pilgrim  "  who  would  tremble  Ijeforo  the  old  ship's  cook. 

A  hammock,  a  kind  of  "  kitanda"  covered  by  an  old  )tiitched 
curtain,  discolored,  fiinged  with  rags,  ajiix'ared   at   the  end 


238  A   CAPTAIN"    AT   FIFTEEN". 

of  the  principal  street.  An  old  negro  descended.  It  was 
the  trader,  Jose-Antonio  Alvez.  Several  attendants  accom- 
panied him,  making  strong  demonstrations. 

AU)ng  willi  Alvez  appeared  his  friend  Coimhra,  the  son  of 
Major  C'oimbra  of  Bihc,  and,  according  to  Lieutenant  Cam- 
eron, the  greatest  scamp  in  the  province.  lie  was  a  dirty- 
creature,  liis  breast  was  uncovered,  liis  eyes  were  bloodshot, 
his  hair  was  rough  and  curly,  his  face  yellow;  he  was  dressed 
in  a  ragged  shirt  and  a  straw  jtetticoat.  lie  would  have  been 
called  a  horrible  old  man  in  his  tattered  straAV  hat.  This 
Coimbra  was  the  contidant,  the  tool  of  Alvez,  an  organizer 
of  raids,  worthy  of  comnuinding  the  trader's  bandits. 

As  for  the  trader,  he  might  have  looked  a  little  less  sordid 
than  his  attendtint.  lie  wore  the  dress  of  an  old  Turk  the 
day  after  a  carnival.  lie  did  not  furnish  a  very  high  speci- 
men of  the  factory  chiefs  who  carry  on  the  trade  on  a  large 
scale. 

To  Dick  Sand's  great  disappointment,  neither  Harris  nor 
Xegoro  appeared  in  the  crowd  that  followed  Alvez.  Must 
he,  then,  renounce  all  hope  of  linding  them  at  Kazounde? 

Meanwhile,  the  chief  of  the  caravan,  the  Arab,  Ibn  Ilamis, 
shook  hands  with  Alvez  and  Coimbra.  He  received  numer- 
ous congratulations.  Alvez  made  a  grimace  at  the  fifty  per 
cent,  of  slaves  failing  in  the  general  count,  but,  on  the  whole, 
the  affair  was  very  satisfactory.  With  what  the  trader  pos- 
sessed of  human  merchandise  in  his  pens,  he  could  satisfy 
the  demands  from  the  interior,  and  barter  slaves  for  ivory 
teeth  and  those  "hannas"  of  copper,  a  kind  of  St.  Andrew's 
cross,  in  which  form  this  metal  is  carried  into  the  centre  of 
Africa. 

The  overseers  were  also  complimented.  As  for  the  porters, 
the  trader  gave  orders  that  their  salary  should  be  immedi- 
ately paid  them. 

Jose-Antonio  Alvez  and  Coimbra  spoke  a  kind  of  Portu- 
guese mingled  with  a  native  idiom,  which  a  native  of  Lisbon 
would  scarcely  have  understood.  Dick  Sand  could  not  hear 
what  these  merchants  were  saying.  Were  they  talking  of 
him  and  his  com])anions,  so  treacherously  joined  to  the  per- 
sons in  the  convoy?  The  young  man  could  not  doubt  it, 
when,  at  a  gesture'  from  the  Arab,  Ibn  Ilamis,  an  overseer 
went  toward  the  pen  where  Tom,  Austin,  Bat  and  Acteon 
had  been  shut  up. 


A   CAPTAIN'   AT    FIFTF.EX.  239 

Almost  immediately  the  four  Americans  were  led  before 
Alvez. 

Dick  Sand  slowly  approached.  He  wished  to  lose  nothing 
of  this  scene. 

Alvez's  face  lit  up  at  the  sight  of  these  few  well-made  blacks, 
to  whom  rest  and  more  abundant  food  had  promptly  restored 
their  natural  vigor.  He  looked  Avith  contempt  at  old  Tom, 
whose  age  would  affect  his  value,  but  the  other  three  would 
sell  high  at  the  next  Kazounde  sale. 

Alvez  remembered  a  few  English  words  which  some  agents, 
like  the  American,  Harris,  had  taught  him,  and  the  old 
monkey  thought  he  would  ironically  welcome  his  new  slaves. 

Tom  understood  the  trader's  words;  he  at  once  advanced, 
and,  showing  his  companions,  said: 

''  "We  are  free  men — citizens  of  the  United  States." 

Alvez  certainly  understood  him;  he  replied  with  a  good- 
humored  grimace,  wagging  his  head: 

**Yes,  yes,  Americans!     Welcome,  welcome!" 

"AVelcome,"  added  Coimbra. 

He  advanced  toward  Austin,  and  like  a  merchant  who  ex- 
amines a  sample,  after  having  felt  his  chest  and  his  shoul- 
ders, he  wanted  to  make  him  open  his  mouth,  so  as  to  see  his 
teeth. 

But  at  this  moment  Signor  Coimbra  received  in  his  face 
the  worst  blow  that  a  major's  son  had  ever  caught. 

Alvez's  confidant  staggered  under  it. 

Several  soldiers  threw  themselves  on  Austin,  who  would 
perhaps  pay  dearly  for  this  angry  action. 

Alvez  stopped  them  by  a  look.  He  laughed,  indeed,  at  the 
misfortune  of  his  fi-iend,  Coimbra,  who  liad  lost  two  of  the 
five  or  six  teeth  remaining  to  him. 

Alvez  did  not  intend  to  have  his  merchandise  injured. 
Then,  he  was  of  a  gay  disposition,  and  it  was  a  long  lime 
since  he  had  laughed  so  much. 

Meanwhile,  he  consoled  the  much  discomfited  Coimbra, 
ajid  the  latter,  helped  to  his  feet,  again  took  his placo near  the 
trader,  while  throwing  a  menacing  look  at  the  audacious  Aus- 
tin. 

At  this  moment  Dick  Sand,  driven  forward  by  an  overseer, 
was  led  before  Alvez. 

The  latter  evidently  knew  all  about  the  young  man,  whence 
he  came,  and  how  he  had  been  taken  to  the  camp  on  the  Co- 
nn za. 


240  A    CAPTAI^r   AT   FIFTEEN. 

So  he  said,  after  having  given  him  an  evil  ghuice: 

"Tiic  little  Yankee!" 

"  Yes,  Yankee!''  replied  Dick  Sand.  "  What  do  they  wish 
to  do  with  my  companions  and  me?" 

''Yankee!  Yankee!  Yankee!"  repeated  Alvez. 

Did  he  not  or  would  he  not  understand  the  question  put  to 
him? 

A  second  time  Dick  Sand  asked  the  question  regarding  his 
companions  and  himself.  lie  then  turned  to  Coimbra,  whose 
features,  degraded  as  they  were  by  the  abuse  of  alcoholic 
liquors,  he  saw  were  not  of  native  origin. 

Coimbra  repeated  the  menacing  gesture  already  made  at 
Austin,  and  did  not  answer. 

During  this  time  Alvez  talked  rapidly  with  the  Arab,  Ibn 
Hamis,  and  evidently  of  things  that  concerned  Dick  Sand 
and  his  friends. 

No  doubt  they  were  to  be  again  separated,  and  who  could 
tell  if  another  chance  to  exchange  a  few  words  would  ever 
again  be  offered  them. 

*'  My  friends,"  said  Dick,  in  a  low  voice,  and  as  if  he  were 
only  speaking  to  himself,  "just  a  few  words!  I  have  re- 
ceived, by  Dingo,  a  letter  from  Hercules.  He  has  followed 
the  caravan.  Harris  and  Negoro  took  away  Mrs,  Weldon, 
Jack  and  Mr.  Benedict.  Where?  I  know  not,  if  they  are 
not  here  at  Kazounde.  Patience!  courage!  Be  ready  at  any 
moment.     God  may  yet  have  pitv  on  us1" 

"  And  Nan?"  quickly  asked  old  Tom. 

*' Nan  is  dead!" 

''The  first!" 

"  And  the  last!"  replied  Dick  Sand,  "  for  we  know 
well " 

At  this  moment  a  hand  was  laid  on  his  shoulder,  and  he 
heard  these  words,  spoken  in  the  amiable  voice  which  he 
knew  only  too  well: 

"  Ah,  my  young  friend,  if  I  am  not  mistaken!  Enchanted 
to  see  you  again!" 

Dick  Sand  turned. 

Harris  was  befor(3  him. 

''  Where  is  Mrs.  Weldon?"  cried  Dick  Sand,  walking  toward 
the  American. 

"  Alas!"  replied  Harris,  pretending  a  pity  that  he  did  not 
feel,  "  the  poor  mother!     How  could  she  survive!" 

"  Dead!"  cried  Dick  Sand.     *'  And  her  child?" 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN".  241 

"The  poor  baby!"  replied  Harris,  in  the  same  tone,  "how 
could  he  outlive  such  fatigue!" 

So,  all  whom  Dick  Sand  loved  were  dead! 

What  passed  within  him?  An  irresistible  movement  of 
anger,  a  desire  for  vengeance,  which  he  must  satisfy  at  any 
price ! 

Dick  Sand  jumped  ujion  Harris,  seized  a  dagger  from  the 
American's  belt,  and  plunged  it  into  his  heart. 

"Curse  you!"  cried  Harris,  falling. 

Harris  was  dead. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE   GREAT  MARKET   DAY. 

Dick  Sand's  action  had  been  so  rapid  that  no  one  could 
stop  him.  A  few  natives  threw  themselves  upon  him,  and  he 
would  have  been  murdered  had  not  Xegoro  appeared. 

At  a  sign  from  the  Portuguese,  the  natives  drew  back,  raised 
Harris's  cori>se  and  carried  it  away.  Alvez  and  Coimbra  de- 
manded Dick  Sand's  immediate  cleath,  but  Negoro  said  to 
them  in  a  low  voice  that  they  would  lose  nothing  by  waiting. 
The  order  was  given  to  take  away  the  young  novice,  with  a 
caution  not  to  lose  sight  of  him  for  a  moment. 

Dick  Sand  had  seen  Negoro  for  the  first  time  since  their 
departure  from  the  coast.  He  knew  that  this  wretch  was 
alone  responsible  for  tlie  loss  of  the  "  Pilgrim."  He  ought 
to  hate  him  still  more  than  his  accomplices.  And  yet,  after 
having  struck  the  American,  he  scorned  to  address  a  word  to 
Negoro.  Harris  had  said  that  Mrs.  "Weldon  and  her  child 
had  succumbed.  Nothing  interested  him  now,  not  even  what 
they  would  do  with  him.  They  would  send  him  away. 
AVhcre?     It  did  not  matter. 

Dick  Sand,  heavily  cliained,  was  left  on  the  floor  of  a  pen 
without  a  window,  a'kind  of  dungeon  Avhere  the  trader,  Alvez, 
shut  up  the  slaves  condemned  to  death  for  re])ellion  or  unlaw- 
ful acts.  There  he  could  no  longer  have  any  conununication 
with  the  exterior;  he  no  longer  dreamed  of  regretting  it.  Ho 
had  avenged  those  whom  he  loved,  who  no  longer  lived. 
Whatever  fate  awaited  him,  he  was  ready  for  it. 


"242  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

It  will  bo  nndcrptood  that  if  Nogoro  had  stopped  the  natives 
who  were  about  to  punish  Harris's  murderer,  it  was  only  be- 
cause he  wished  to  reserve  Dick  8and  for  one  of  those  terrible 
torments  of  which  the  natives  liold  the  secret.  The  ship's 
cook  held  in  his  power  the  captain  of  fifteen  years.  He  only 
wanted  Hercules  to  make  his  vengeance  complete. 

Two  days  afterward,  JMay  J28th,  the  sale  began,  the  great 
"lakoni,"  during  which  the  traders  of  the  principal  fac- 
tories of  the  interior  would  meet  the  natives  of  the  neigh- 
boring provinces.  This  market  Avas  not  specially  for  the  sale 
of  slaves,  but  all  the  i)roducts  of  this  fertile  Africa  would 
be  gathered  there  with  the  producers. 

From  early  morning  all  was  intense  animation  on  the  vast 
"tchitoka"  of  Kazounde,  and  it  is  difhcult  to  give  a  proper 
idea  of  the  scene.  It  was  a  concourse  of  four  or  five  thou- 
sand jicrsons,  including  Alvez's  slaves,  among  whom  were 
Tom  and  his  companions.  These  four  men,  for  the  reason 
that  they  belonged  to  a  different  race,  are  all  the  more  valu- 
able to  the  brokers  in  hunum  flesh.  Alvez  was  there,  the 
first  among  all.  Attended  by  Coimbra,  he  offered  the  slaves 
in  lots.  These  the  traders  from  the  interior Avould  foim  into 
caravans.  Among  these  ti'aders  were  certain  half-breeds 
from  Oujiji,  the  principal  market  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  and 
some  Arabs,  who  are  far  superior  to  the  half-breeds  in  this 
kind  of  trade. 

The  natives  flocked  there  in  great  numbers.  There  were 
children,  men,  and  women,  the  latter  being  animated  trad- 
ders,  who,  as  regards  a  genius  for  bargaining,  could  only  be 
compared  to  their  white  sisters. 

In  the  markets  of  large  cities,  even  on  a  great  day  of  sale, 
there  is  never  much  noi,se  or  confusion.  Among  the  civilized 
the  need  of  selling  exceeds  the  desire  to  buy.  Among  these 
African  savages  offers  are  made  with  as  much  eagerness  as 
demands. 

The  "lakoni"  is  a  festival  day  for  the  natives  of  both 
sexes,  and  if  for  good  reasons  they  do  not  put  on  their  best 
clothes,  they  at  least  wear  their  Landsomest  ornaments. 

Some  wear  the  hair  divided  in  four  parts,  covered  with 
cushions,  and  in  plaits  tied  like  a  chignon  or  airangcd  in 
]ian-handles  on  the  front  of  the  head  with  bunches  of  red 
feathers.  Others  have  the  hair  in  bent  hoius  sticky  with 
led  earth  and  oil,  like  the  red  lead  used  to  close  the  joints 
of  machines.     In  these  masses  of  real  or  false  hair  is  worn  a 


A   CAPTAIX   AT  FIFTEEX.  243 

bristling  assemblage  of  skewers,  iron  and  ivory  pius,  often 
even,  among  elegant  people,  a  tattooing-knife  is  stuck  in  the 
crisp  mass,  each  hair  of  which  is  put  through  a  "sofi"or 
glass  bead,  thus  forming  a  tapestry  of  different-colored  grains. 
Such  are  the  edifices  most  generally  seen  on  the  heads  of  the 
men. 

The  women  prefer  to  divide  their  hair  in  little  tufts  of  the 
size  of  a  cherry,  in  wix^aths,  in  twists,  the  ends  of  which  form 
designs  in  relief,  and  in  cork-screws,  worn  the  length  of  the 
face.  A  few,  more  simple  and  perhaps  prettier,  let  their 
long  hair  hang  down  the  back,  in  the  English  style,  and 
others  wear  it  cut  over  the  forehead  in  a  fringe,  like  the 
French.  Generally  they  wear  on  these  wigs  a  greasy  putty, 
made  of  red  clay  or  of  glossy  "ukola,"  a  red  substance  ex- 
tracted from  sandal-wood,  so  that  these  elegant  persons  look 
as  if  their  heads  were  dressed  with  tiles. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  luxury  of  ornamentation 
is  confined  to  the  hair  of  the  natives.  What  are  ears  for  if 
not  to  pass  pins  of  precious  wood  through,  also  copper  rings, 
charms  of  plaited  maize,  v\hich  draw  them  forward,  or  little 
gourds  which  do  for  snuff-boxes,  and  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  distended  lobes  of  these  ajopendages  fall  sometimes  to  the 
shoulders  of  their  owners? 

After  all,  the  Afi-ican  savages  have  no  pockets,  and  how 
could  they  have  any?  This  gives  rise  to  the  necessity  of 
placing  whei'C  they  can  their  knives,  pipes,  and  other  cus- 
tomary objects.  As  for  the  neck,  arms,  wrists,  legs,  and 
ankles,  these  various  parts  of  the  body  are  undoubtedly  des- 
tined to  carry  the  co])per  and  brass  bracelets,  the  horns  cut 
off  and  decorated  with  bright  buttons,  the  rows  of  red  pearls, 
called  same-savies  or  **  talakas,"  and  which  were  very  fash- 
ionable. Besides,  with  these  jewels,  worn  in  profusion,  the 
wealthy  people  of  the  place  looked  like  traveling  shrines. 

Again,  if  nature  gave  the  natives  teeth,  was  it  not  that 
they  could  pull  out  the  upper  and  lower  incisors,  file  them  in 
points,  and  curve  them  in  sharp  fangs  like  the  fangs  of  a  rat- 
tle-snake? If  sJie  has  placed  nails  at  the  end  of  tlie  fingers, 
is  it  not  that  they  may  grow  so  immoderately  that  the  use  of 
the  hand  is  rendered  almost  impossible?  If  the  skin,  black 
or  brown,  covers  the  human  frame,  is  it  not  so  as  to  zebra  it 
by  "tcmmbos"  or  tattooings  rcj^resenting  trees,  }>irds,  cres- 
cents, full  moons,  or  waving  lines,  in  which  Livingstone 
thought  he  could  trace  the  designs  of  ancient  Egypt?     This 


2 14  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

tattooin?,  done  by  fatlicrs,  is  practiced  by  means  of  a  blue 
TuatUn-  introduced  into  tlic  incisions,  and  is  "stereotyped" 
l)oint  by  point  on  the  bodies  of  the  children,  thus  establish- 
inij^  to  wliat  tribe  or  to  what  family  they  belong.  The  coat- 
of-arnis  must  be  engraved  on  the  breast,  when  it  cannot  be 
painted  on  the  panel  of  a  carriage. 

Such  are  the  native  fasliions  in  ornament.  In  regard  to 
garments  })roperly  so  called,  they  are  summed  np  very  easily; 
for  the  men,  an  apron  of  antelope  leather,  reaching  to  the 
knees,  or  perhaps  a  petticoat  of  a  straw  material  of  brilliant 
colors;  for  the  women,  a  belt  of  pearls,  supporting  at  the 
hips  a  green  petticoat,  embroidered  in  silk,  ornamented  with 
glass  beads  or  coury;  sometimes  they  wear  garments  made  of 
•*  lambba,"  a  straw  material,  blue,  black,  and  yellow,  which 
is  much  prized  by  the  natives  of  Zanzibar. 

These,  of  course,  are  the  negroes  of  the  best  families.  The 
others,  merchants  and  slaves,  are  seldom  clothed.  The 
women  generally  act  as  porters,  and  reach  the  market  with 
enormous  baskets  on  their  back,  which  they  hold  by  means 
of  a  leatliern  strap  passed  over  the  forehead.  Then,  their 
I)laces  being  taken,  and  the  merchandise  unpacked,  they 
squat  in  their  empty  baskets. 

The  astonishing  fertility  of  the  country  causes  the  choice 
alimentary  products  to  be  brought  to  this  "lakoni."  There 
were  quantities  of  the  rice  which  returns  a  hundred  percent., 
of  the  maize,  which,  in  three  crops  in  eight  months,  ])roduces 
two  hundred  per  cent.,  the  sesamum,  the  pepper  of  Ouroua, 
stronger  than  the  Cayenne,  allspice,  tapioca,  sorghum,  nut- 
megs, salt,  and  palm-oil. 

Hundreds  of  goats  were  gathered  there,  hogs,  sheep  Avith- 
out  wool,  evidently  of  Tartar  origin,  quantities  of  poultry  and 
fish.  Specimens  of  pottery,  very  gracefully  turned,  attracted 
the  eyes  by  their  violent  colors. 

Various  drinks  which  the  little  natives  cried  about  in  a 
squeaking  voice,  enticed  the  unwary,  in  the  form  of  jilantain 
wine,  "  })ombo,"  a  liquor  in  great  demand,  "malofou,"  sweet 
beer,  made  from  the  fruit  of  the  banana-tree,  and  mead,  a 
limpid  mixture  of  honey  and  water  fermented  with  malt. 

But  what  made  the  Kazounde  market  still  more  curious, 
was  the  commerce  in  stuffs  and  ivory. 

In  the  line  of  stuffs,  one  might  count  by  thousands  of 
"choukkas"  or  armfuls,  the  "Mcrieani  "  unbleached  calico, 
come  from  Salem,  in  Massachusetts,  the  "kanaki,"a  blue 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  245 

gingham,  tliirty-four  inches  wide,  the  "  sohari,'*  a  stuff  in 
blue  and  whitesquares,  with  a  red  border,  mixed  with  small 
blue  stripes.  It  is  cheaper  tliau  the  '*  dioulis,"  a  silk  from 
Surat,  with  a  green,  red  or  yellow  ground,  which  is  worth 
from  seventy  to  eighty  dollars  for  a  remnant  of  three  yards, 
Avhen  woven  wi*"h  gold. 

As  for  ivory,  it  was  brought  from  all  parts  of  Central  Africa, 
being  destined  for  Khartoum,  Zanzibar,  or  Natal.  A  large 
number  of  merchants  are  employed  solely  in  this  branch  of 
African  commerce. 

Imagine  how  many  elephants  are  killed  to  furnish  the  five 
hundred  thousand  kilogrammes  of  ivory,  which  are  annually 
exported  to  European  markets,  and  principally  to  the  English! 
The  western  coast  of  Africa  alone  produces  one  hundred  and 
forty  tons  of  this  precious  substance.  The  average  weight  is 
twenty-eight  pounds  for  a  pair  of  elephant's  tusks,  which,  in 
187-i,  were  valued  as  high  as  fifteen  hundred  francs;  but  there 
are  some  that  weigh  one  hundred'and  seventy-five  pounds,  atid 
at  the  Kazounde  market,  admirers  would  have  found  some  ad- 
mirable ones.  They  were  of  an  opaque  ivory,  trunslucid,  soft 
under  the  tool,  andVitha  brown  rind,  preserving  its  white- 
ness and  not  growing  yellow  with  time  like  the  ivories  of 
other  provinces. 

i^nd,  now,  how  arc  these  various  business  affairs  regulated 
between  buyers  and  sellers?  What  is  the  current  coin?  As 
we  have  said,  for  the  African  traders  this  money  is  the  slave. 

The  native  pays  in  glass  beads  of  Venetian  manufacture, 
called  "catchocolos,"  when  they  are  of  a  lime  white;  '*  bou- 
boulous,"  when  they  are  black;  **  sikounderetches,"  Avhen 
they  are  red.  These  beads  or  pearls,  strung  in  ten  rows  or 
**  khetes,"  going  twice  around  the  neck,  make  the  *'  foundo," 
which  is  of  great  value.  The  usual  -measure  of  the  beads  is 
the  "frasilah,"  which  weighs  seventy  iiounds.  Livingstone, 
Cameron,  and  Stanley  were  always  careful  to  be  abundantly 
provided  with  this  money. 

In  default  of  glass  beads,  the  "pice,"  a  Zanzibar  piece, 
worth  four  centimes,  and  the  '' vroungouas,"  shells  peculiar 
to  the  eastern  coasts,  are  current  in  the  nnirkcts  of  tiie  Afri- 
can continent.  As  for  the  cannibal  tribes,  they  attach  a  cer- 
tain value  to  the  teeth  of  the  human  jaw,  and  at  the 
"  lakoni,"  these  chaplcts  were  to  be  seen  on  the  necks  of 
natives,  who  iiad  no  doubt  eaten  their  producers;  but  these 
teeth  were  ceasing  to  be  used  as  money. 


24G  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

Such,  then,  was  the  appearance  of  the  great  market.  To- 
ward the  middle  of  tlic  day  tlie  gaycty  reached  a  climax;  the 
noise  became  deafening.  Tiie  fury  of  the  neglected  venders, 
and  the  anger  of  the  overcliarged  customers,  were  beyond  de- 
scription. Thence  frequent  quarrels,  and,  as  we  know,  few 
guardians  of  the  peace  to  (|uell  the  fray  in  this  howling  crowd. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  day,  Alvcz  gave  orders  to  bring 
the  slaves,  wliom  he  wished  to  sell,  to  the  square.  The  crowd 
was  thus  increased  by  two  thousand  unfortunate  beings  of  all 
ages,  whom  the  trader  had  kept  in  pens  for  several  months. 
This  "  stock  "  was  not  in  a  bad  condition.  Long  rest  and 
sufficient  food  had  improved  these  slaves  so  as  to  look  to  ad- 
vantage at  the  "  lakoni."  As  for  the  last  arrivals,  they  could 
not  stand  any  comparison  with  them,  and,  after  a  month  in 
the  pens,  Alvez  could  certainly  have  sold  them  with  more  profit. 
The  demands,  however,  from  the  eastern  coast,  were  so  great 
that  lie  decided  to  expose  and  sell  them  as  they  were. 

This  was  a  misfortune  for  Tom  and  his  three  companions. 
The  drivers  pushed  them  into  the  crowd  that  invaded  the 
"tchitoka."  They  were  strongly  chained,  and  their  glances 
told  what  horror,  what  fury  and  shame  overwhelmed  them. 

"  Mr.  Dick  is  not  there,"  Bat  said,  after  some  time,  during 
which  he  had  searched  the  vast  plain  with  his  eyes. 

"No,"  replied  Acteon,  *' they  will  not  jmt  him  up  for 
sale." 

"  He  will  be  killed,  if  he  is  not  ah-eady,"  addsd  the  old 
black.  "  As  for  us,  we  have  but  one  hope  left,  which  is,  that 
the  same  trader  will  buy  us  all.  It  would  be  a  great  consola- 
tion not  to  be  separated." 

**  Ah!  to  know  that  you  are  far  away  from  me,  working 
like  a  slave,  my  poor,  old  father!"  cried  Bat,  sobbing  aloud. 

"No,"  said  Tom.  **  Xo;  they  will  not  separate  us,  and 
perhaps  we  might " 

"  If  Hercules  were  here!"  cried  Austin. 

But  the  giant  had  not  reappeared.  Since  the  news  sent  to 
Dick  Sand,  they  had  heard  no  one  mention  either  Hercules 
or  Dingo.  Should  they  envy  him  his  fate?  Why,  yes;  for  if 
Hercules  were  dead,  he  was  saved  from  the  chain3  of  slavery! 

Meanwhile,  the  sale  had  commenced.  Alvcz's  agents 
marched  the  various  lots  of  men,  women  and  children  through 
the  crowd,  without  caring  if  they  separated  mothers  from 
their  infants.  May  we  not  call  these  beings  "unfortunates," 
who  were  treated  only  as  domestic  animals? 


A   CAPTAIJT   AT   FIFTEEN.  247 

Tom  and  his  companions  were  thus  led  from  buyers  to 
buyers.  An  agent  walked  before  tliem  naming  the  price  ad- 
judged to  their  lot.  Arab  or  mongrel  brokers,  from  the  cen- 
tral provinces,  came  to  examine  them.  They  did  not  discover 
in  them  tlie  traits  peculiar  to  the  African  race,  these  traits 
being  modified  in  America  after  the  second  generation.  But 
these  vigorous  and  intelligent  negroes,  so  very  different  frona 
the  blacks  brought  from  the  banks  of  the  Zambeze  or  the 
Loualaba,  were  all  the  more  valuable.  They  felt  them, 
turned  them,  and  looked  at  their  teeth.  Horse-dealers  thus 
examine  the  animals  they  wish  to  buy.  Then  they  threw  a 
stick  to  a  distance,  made  them  run  and  pick  it  up,  and  thus 
observed  their  gait. 

This  was  the  method  employed  for  all,  and  all  were  sub- 
mitted to  these  humiliating  trials.  Do  not  believe  that  these 
people  are  completely  indifferent  to  this  treatment!  Ko, 
excepting  the  children,  who  cannot  comprehend  the  state  of 
degradation  to  which  they  are  reduced,  all,  men  or  women, 
were  ashamed. 

Besides,  they  were  not  spared  injuries  and  blows.  Coim- 
bra,  half  drunk,  and  Alvez's  agents,  treated  them  with 
extreme  brutality,  and  from  their  new  masters,  who  had  just 
paid  for  them  in  ivory  stuffs  and  beads,  they  would  receive 
no  better  treatment.  Violently  separated,  a  mother  from 
her  child,  a  husband  from  his  wife,  a  brother  from  a  sister, 
they  were  not  allowed  a  last  caress  nor  a  last  kiss,  and  on  the 
"  lakoni "  tliey  saw  each  other  for  the  last  time. 

In  fact,  the  demands  of  the  trade  exacted  that  the  slaves 
should  be  sent  in  diffcrentnlirections,  according  to  their  sex. 
The  traders  who  buy  the  men  do  not  buy  Avornen.  The  lat- 
ter, in  virtue  of  polygamy,  which  is  legal  among  the  Mussul- 
men,  are  sent  to  the  Arabic  countries,  where  they  are 
exchanged  for  ivory.  The  men,  lieing  destined  lo  the  hard- 
est labor,  go  to  the  factories  of  the  two  coasts,  and  are 
exported  either  to  the  Spanish  colonies  or  to  the  markets  of 
Muscat  and  Madagascar.  This  sorting  leads  to  heart-l)reak- 
ing  scenes  between  those  whom  the  agents  sei)arate,  and  who 
will  die  without  ever  seeing  each  otlier  again. 

The  four  companions  in  turn  snl)mitted  to  the  common 
fato.  But,  to  tell  the  truth,  they  did  not  fear  this  event.  It 
was  better  for  them  to  be  exi»nrti'(i  into  a  slave  colony.  'J'here, 
at  least,  they  miglit  have  a  chance  to  protest.     On  tlie  con- 


248  A    CAPTATX   AT   FIFTEEN. 

tnirv.  if  sent  to  tlio  iiiiorior,  ihcy  might  renounce  all  hope  of 
I'vor  roijaiiiing  tlioir  liberty. 

It  happeiicil  as  they  "wislicd.  Tliey  e\Qn  had  the  almost 
niilioinni  for  consolation  of  not  being  separated.  They  were 
in  brisk  demand,  being  wanted  by  several  traders.  Alvez 
(•iaj)i)ed  liis  hands.  The  prices  rose.  It  was  strange  to  see 
these  slaves  of  nnknown  value  in  the  Kazoundc  market,  and 
Alvez  had  taken  good  care  to  conceal  where  they  came  from. 
Tom  and  his  friends,  not  speaking  the  language  of  the  coun- 
try, could  not  protest. 

Their  master  was  a  rich  Arab  trader,  who  in  a  few  days 
would  send  them  to  Lake  Tanganyika,  the  great  thoroughfare 
for  slaves;  then,  from  that  point,  toward  the  factories  of 
Zanzibar. 

Would  they  ever  reach  there,  through  the  most  unhealthy 
and  the  most  dangerous  countries  of  Central  Africa?  Fifteen 
hundred  miles  to  march  under  these  conditions,  in  the  midst 
of  frequent  wars,  raised  and  carried  on  between  chiefs,  in  a 
murderous  climate.  Was  old  Tom  strong  enough  to  support 
such  misery?  Would  he  not  fall  on  the  road  like  old  JS!an? 
But  the  poor  men  were  not  separated.  The  chain  that  held 
them  all  was  lighter  to  carry.  The  Arab  trader  would  evi- 
dently take  care  of  merchandise  which  promised  him  a  largo 
profit  in  the  Zanzibar  market. 

Tom,  Bat,  Acteon  and  Austin  then  left  the  place.  They 
saw  and  heard  nothing  of  the  scene  which  was  to  end  the 
great  '*  lakoni  "  of  Kazounde. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE    KIXG    OF   KAZOUNDE    IS   OFFERED   A    PUNCH. 

It  was  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  a  loud  noise  of 
drums,  cymbals  and  other  instruments  of  African  origin  re- 
sounded at  the  end  of  the  })rincipal  street.  In  all  corners  of 
the  market-place  the  animation  was  redoubled.  Half  a  day 
of  cries  and  wrestling  had  neither  weakened  the  voices  nor 
broken  the  limbs  of  these  abominable  traders.  A  large  num- 
ber of  slaves  still  remained  to  be  sold.  The  traders  disputed 
over  the  lots  with  an  ardor  of  which  the  London  Exchange 
would  give  but  an  imperfect  idea,  even  on  a  day  when  stocks 
were  risinsr. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  249 

All  business  was  stoi^iied,  and  the  criers  took  tlieir  bi'catli 
as  soon  as  the  discordant  concert  commenced. 

The  King  of  Kazounde,  Moini  Loungga,  had  come  to 
honor  the  great  ''  lakoni  "'  with  a  visit.  A  numerous  train  of 
women,  officers,  soldiers  and  slaves  followed  him.  Alvez  and 
some  otlier  traders  went  to  meet  him,  and  naturally  exagger- 
ated the  attention  which  this  crowned  brute  particukrly  en- 
joyed. 

Moini  Loungga  was  carried  in  an  old  palanquin,  and  de- 
scended, not  without  the  aid  of  a  dozen  arms,  in  the  center 
of  the  large  square. 

This  king  was  fifty  years  old,  but  he  looked  eighty.  Imagine 
a  frightful  monkey  who  had  reached  extreme  old  age;  on  his 
head  a  sort  of  crown,  ornamented  with  leopard's  claws,  dyed 
red,  and  enlarged  by  tufts  of  whitish  hair;  this  was  the  crown 
of  the  sovereigns  of  Kazounde.  From  his  waist  hung  two 
petticoats  made  of  leather,  embroidered  with  pearls,  and  harder 
than  a  blacksmith's  apron.  He  had  on  his  breast  a  quantity 
of  tattooing  which  bore  witness  to  the  ancient  nobility  of  the 
king;  and,  to  believe  him,  the  genealogv"  of  Moini  Loungga 
was  lost  in  the  night  of  time.  On  the  ankles,  wrists  and  arms 
of  his  majesty,  bracelets  of  leather  were  rolled,  and  he  wore 
a  pair  of  domestic  shoes  with  yellow  tops,  which  Alvez  had 
presented  him  with  about  twenty  years  before. 

His  majesty  carried  in  his  left  hand  a  large  stick  with  a 
plated  knob,  and  in  his  right  a  small  broom  to  drive  away 
Hies,  the  handle  of  which  was  enriched  with  pearls. 

Over  his  head  was  carried  one  of  those  old  patched  um- 
])rellas,  whicli  seemed  to  have  been  cut  out  of  a  harlequin's 
drcs^. 

On  the  monarch's  neck  and  on  his  nose  were  the  magnify- 
ing glass  and  the  spectacles  which  had  caused  Cousin  Bene- 
dict so  much  trouble.  They  had  been  hidden  in  Bat's 
pocket. 

Such  is  the  portrait  of  his  negi'O  majesty,  who  made  the 
country  treinljle  in  a  circumference  of  a  humlred  miles. 

Moini  Loungga.  from  tiie  fact  of  occupving  a  throne,  pre- 
tended to  be  of  cek'Stial  origin,  and  liad  aiiy  of  his  subjects 
doubted  the  fact,  lie  would  have  sent  them  into  another  world 
to  discover  it.  He  said  that,  being  of  a  divine  essence,  he 
was  not  subject  to  terrestrial  laws.  If  he  ate,  it  was  because 
he  wished  to  do  so;  if  he  drank,  it  was  because  it  gave  him 
pleasure.     Jt  was  impossible  for  liim  to  drink  anymore.    His 


350  A   CAITAIN"   AT  FIFTEEIT. 

ministers  and  liis  ofTiccrs,  all  incurable  dninkards,  would  have 
l^assed  before  him  for  sober  men. 

The  eourt  was  alcoholized  to  the  last  chief,  and  incessantly 
imbibed  strong  beer,  cider,  and,  above  all,  a  certain  drink 
which  Alvez  furnished  in  profusion. 

Moini  Loungga  counted  in  his  harem  wives  of  all  ages  and 
of  all  kinds.  The  larger  part  of  them  accompanied  him  in 
this  visit  to  the  "lakoni." 

Moini,  the  first,  according  to  date,  was  a  vixen  of  forty 
years,  of  royal  blood,  like  her  colleagues.  She  wore  a  bright 
tartan,  a  straw  })etticoat  embroidered  with  pearls,  and  neck- 
laces wherever  she  could  put  them.  Her  hair  was  dressed  so 
as  to  make  an  enormous  framework  on  her  little  head.  She 
was,  in  fact,  a  monster. 

The  other  wives,  who  were  either  the  cousins  or  the  sisters 
of  the  king,  were  less  richly  dressed,  but  much  younger. 
They  walked  behind  her,  ready  to  fulfil,  at  a  sign  from  their 
master,  their  duties  as  liuman  furniture.  These  unfortunate 
beings  were  really  nothing  else.  If  the  king  wished  to  sit 
down,  two  of  these  women  bent  toward  the  earth  and  served 
him  for  a  chair,  while  his  feet  rested  on  the  bodies  of  some 
others,  as  if  on  an  ebony  carpet. 

In  Moini  Loungga's  suite  came  his  oflBcers,  his  captains, 
and  his  magicians. 

A  remarkable  thing  about  these  savages,  who  staggered  like 
their  master,  was  that  each  lacked  a  part  of  his  body — one 
an  ear,  another  an  eye,  this  one  the  nose,  that  one  the  hand. 
Not  one  was  whole.  That  is  because  they  apply  only  two 
kinds  of  punishment  in  Kazounde — mutilation  or  death — all 
at  the  caprice  of  the  king.  For  the  least  fault,  some  ampu- 
tation, and  the  most  cruelly  punished  are  those  whose  ears 
are  cut  off,  because  they  can  no  longer  wear  rings  in  their 
ears. 

The  captains  of  the  TciJolos,  governors  of  districts,  heredi- 
tary or  named  for  four  years,  wore  hats  of  zebra  skin  and  red 
vests  for  their  whole  uniform.  Their  hands  brandished  long 
palm  canes,  steeped  at  one  end  with  charmed  drugs. 

As  to  the  soldiers,  they  had  for  offensive  and  defensive 
weapons,  bows,  of  which  tlie  wood,  twined  Avith  the  cord,  was 
ornamented  with  fringes;  knives  whetted  with  a  serpent's 
tongue;  broad  and  long  lances;  shields  of  palm  wood,  deco- 
rated in  arabesfiuc  style.     For  Avhat  there  was  of  uniform. 


MILS.   WELUO.V,"  SAII)    111:,   "  TOM    AM;    III.S   CUMrAMONS   IIAVIC    IIICKN    SOLD    KOIl 

THE  MAKKET.s  <)V  oiMiJi."— .SVe  jiU(/e  aOU. 


A    CAPTAi:^^   AT    riFTEEX.  251 

properly  so  called,  it  cost  liis  majesty's  treasury  absolutely 
nothin<r. 

Finally,  the  king's  cortege  comprised,  in  the  last  place,  the 
court  magicians  and  the  instrumentalists. 

The  sorcerers,  tlie  "  mganngas,"  are  the  doctors  of  the 
country.  These  savages  attach  an  absolute  faith  to  divinatory 
services,  to  incantations,  to  the  fetiches,  clay  figures  stained 
■with  white  and  red,  representing  fantastic  animals  or  figures 
of  men  and  women  cut  out  of  whole  wood.  For  the  rest, 
those  magicians  were  not  less  mutilated  than  the  other  court- 
iers, and  doubtless  the  monarch  jiaid  them  in  this  way  for  the 
cures  that  did  not  succeed. 

The  instrumentalists,  men  or  women,  made  sharp  rattles 
whizz,  noisy  drums  sound  or  shudder  under  small  sticks  ter- 
minated by  a  caoutchouc  ball,  "marimehas,"  kinds  of  dul- 
cimers formed  of  two  rows  of  gourds  of  various  dimensions — 
the  whole  very  deafening  for  any  one  who  does  not  possess  a 
pair  of  African  ears. 

Above  this  crowd,  which  composed  the  royal  cortege,  waved 
some  flags  and  standards,  then  at  the  ends  of  spears  the 
bleached  skulls  of  the  riAal  chiefs  whom  Moini  Loungga  had 
vanquished. 

When  the  king  had  quitted  his  palanquin,  acclamations 
burst  forth  from  all  sides.  The  soldiers  of  the  caravan  dis- 
cliarged  their  old  guns,  the  low  detonations  of  which  were  but 
little  louder  than  the  vociferations  of  the  crowd.  The  over- 
seers, after  rubbing  their  black  noses  with  cinnabar  powder, 
which  they  carried  in  a  sack,  bowed  to  the  ground.  Then 
Alvez,  advancing  in  his  turn,  handed  the  king  a  supply  of 
fresh  tobacco — "  soothing  lierb,"  as  they  call  it  in  the  country. 
Moini  Loungga  had  great  need  of  being  soothed,  for  he  was, 
they  did  not  know  why,  in  a  very  bad  humor. 

At  the  same  time  Alvez,  Coimbra,  Ibn  Ham  is,  and  the  Arab 
traders,  or  mongrels,  came  to  pay  their  court  to  the  powerful 
sovereign  of  Kazounde.  "Marhaba,"  said  the  Arabs,  which 
is  their  word  of  welcome  in  the  language  of  Central  Africa. 
Others  clapped  their  hands  and  bowed  to  the  ground.  Some 
daubed  themselves  with  mud,  and  gave  signs  of  the  greatest 
servility  to  this  hideous  majesty. 

Moini  Loungga  hardly  looked  at  all  these  pco])le,  and  walked, 
keeping  his  limbs  a))art,  as  if  the  ground  were  rolling  and 
pitching,  lie  walked  in  this  mamicr,  or  rather  he  rolled  in 
the  midat  of  waves  of  slaves,  and  if  the  traders  feared  tliat  ho 


2,')2  A    CAPTAIN"   AT   FIFTEEN. 

misjht  take  a  notion  to  apportion  some  of  the  prisoners  to 
himself,  the  hatter  would  no  less  dread  falling  into  the  power 
of  such  a  hruto. 

Ncgoro  had  not  left  Alvez  for  a  moment,  and  in  his  com- 
pany "presented  his  homage  to  the  king.  Both  conversed  in 
tiie  native  language,  if,  however,  that  word  "  converse  "  can 
be  used  of  a  conversation  in  which  Moini  Loungga  only  took 
part  by  monosyllables  that  hardly  found  a  passage  through  his 
drunken  lips.  '  And  still,  did  he  not  ask  his  friend,  Alvez,  to 
renew  his  supply  of  brandy  just  exhausted  by  large  libations? 

''  King  Loungga  is  welcome  to  the  market  of  Kazouude," 
said  the  trader. 

"  I  am  thirsty,"  replied  the  monarch. 

"  lie  will  take  his  part  in  the  business  of  the  great  '  la- 
koni,'  "  added  Alve^^. 

"  DrinkI''  replied  ^roini  Loungga. 

"  My  friend  Xegoro  is  happy  to  see  the  King  of  Kazounde 
again,  after  such  a  long  absence." 

"  Drink!"  repeated  the  drunkard,  whose  whole  person  gave 
forlh  a  disgusting  odor  of  alcohol. 

"  Well,  some  '  pombcl'  some  mead!"  exclaimed  Jose- Antonio 
Alvez,  like  a  man  who  well  knew  what  Moini  Loungga 
wanted. 

"N"o,  no!"  replied  the  king:  "  my  friend  Alvez's  brandy, 
and  for  each  drop  of  his  fire-water  I  shall  give  him " 

*•' A  drop  of  blood  from  a  white  man!"  exclaimed  Xegoro, 
after  making  a  sign  to  Alvez,  which  the  latter  understood 
and  approved. 

"A  white  man!  Put  a  white  man  to  death!"  repeated 
;M  jini  Loungga,  whose  ferocious  instincts  were  aroused  by 
thi  Portuguese's  proposition. 

"One  of  Alvez's  agents  ha3  been  killed  by  this  white  man," 
returned  Xegoro. 

''Yes,  my  agent,  Harris,"  replied  the  trader,  ''and  his 
death  must  be  avenged!" 

"  Send  that  white  man  to  King  Massongo,  on  the  Upper 
Zaire,  among  the  Assonas.  They  will  cut  him  in  pieces. 
Thev  will  eat  him  alive.  They  have  not  forgotten  the  taste 
of  humiu  flesli!"  exclaimed  Moini  Loungga. 

lie  was,  in  fact,  the  king  of  a  tribe  of  man-eaters,  that 
Massongo.  It  is  only  too  true  that  in  certain  provinces  of 
Central  Africa  cannibalism  is  still  openly  practiced.  Liv- 
ingstone states  it  in  his  "  Xotes  of  Travel."     On  the  borders 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  253 

of  the  Loualaba  the  ilanyeinas  not  only  eat  the  men  killed  in 
the  wars,  but  they  buy  slaves  to  devour  them,  sajnng  that 
''human  flesh  is  easily  salted,  and  needs  little  seasoning." 
Those  cannibals  Cameron  has  found  again  among  the  Moene 
Bongga,  where  they  only  feast  on  dead  bodies  after  steeping 
them  for  several  days  in  a  running  stream.  Stanley  has  also 
encountered  those  customs  of  cannibalism  among  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Oukonson.  Cannibalism  is  evidently  well  spread 
among  the  tribes  of  the  center. 

But,  cruel  as  was  the  kind  of  deatli  proposed  by  the  king 
for  Dick  Sand,  it  did  not  suit  Xegoro,  who  did  not  care  to 
give  up  his  victim. 

"  It  was  here,"  said  he,  "that  the  white  man  killed  our 
comrade  Harris." 

"  It  is  here  that  he  ought  to  die!"  added  Alvez. 

"Where  you  please,  Alvez,"  replied  Moini  Loungga;  "but 
a  drop  of  fire-water  for  a  drop  of  blood!" 

"Yes,"  replied  the  trader,  "fire-water,  and  you  will  see 
that  it  well  merits  that  name!  We  shall  make  it  blaze,  this 
water!  Jose-Antonio  Alvez  will  offer  a  punch  to  the  King 
Moini  Loungga." 

The  drunkard  shook  his  friend  Alvez's  hands.  lie  could 
not  contain  his  joy.  His  wives,  liis  courtiers  shared  his  ec- 
stasy. They  liad  never  seen  brandy  blaze,  and  doubtless  they 
counted  on  drinking  it  all  blazing.  Then,  after  tlie  thirst 
for  alcoliol,  the  thirst  for  blood,  so  imperious  among  these 
savages,  woukl  be  satisfied  also. 

Poor  Dick  Sand!  Wliat  a  liorriblo  ])unishment  awaited 
])im.  Wlicn  we  think  of  tlie  terrible  or  grotes(|ue  effects  of 
intoxication  in  civilized  countries,  we  understand  how  far  it 
can  urge  barbarous  beings. 

We  will  readily  believe  that  the  thought  of  torturing  a 
white  could  displease  none  of  the  natives,  neither  Jose- An- 
tonio Alvez,  a  negro  like  themselves,  nor  Coimbra,  a  mongrel 
of  black  blood,  nor  Xegoro  either,  animated  with  a  ferocious 
hatred  against  the  whites. 

The  evening  had  come,  an  evening  without  twilight,  that 
was  going  to  make  day  change  to  night  almost  at  once,  a 
jjropitious  hour  for  the  blazing  of  the  brandy. 

It  was  truly  a  trium])hant  idea  of  Alvez's,  to  offer  a  jiunch 
to  this  negro  majesty,  and  to  make  him  lovo  brandy  under  a 
new  form.  Moini  Loungga  began  to  find  that  fire-water  di(l 
not  sulliciently  justify  its  name.     Perhaps,  Ijlazing  and  burn- 


254  A   CAITAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

ing,  it  would  tickle  more  agreeably  the  blunted  papillas  of 
Ills  tongue. 

The  evening's  programme  then  comprised  a  punch  first,  a 
punisliment  aitcrwards. 

Dick  Sand,  closely  shut  up  in  his  dark  prison,  would  only 
come  out  to  go  to  liis  death.  The  other  slaves,  sold  or  not, 
had  been  put  back  in  the  barracks.  There  only  remained  at 
the  "tchitoka"  the  traders,  the  overseers  and  the  soldiers 
ready  to  take  their  part  of  the  punch,  if  the  king  and  his 
court  allowed  them. 

Jose-Antonio  Alvez,  advised  by  Negoro,  did  the  thing  well. 
They  brought  a  vast  copper  basin,  capable  of  containing  at 
least  two  hundred  pints,  which  was  placed  in  the  middle  of 
the  great  place.  Barrels  holding  alcohol  of  inferior  quality, 
but  well  refined,  were  emptied  into  the  basin.  They  spared 
neither  the  cinnamon,  nor  the  allspice,  nor  any  of  the  ingre- 
dients that  might  improve  this  punch  for  savages. 

All  had  made  a  circle  around  the  king.  Moini  Loungga 
advanced  staggering  to  the  basin.  One  would  say  that  this 
vat  of  brandy  fascinated  him,  and  that  he  was  going  to  throw 
himself  into  it. 

Alvez  generously  held  him  back  and  put  a  lighted  match 
into  his  hand. 

"Fire I*'  cried  he  with  a  cunning  grimace  of  satisfaction. 

'Tire!"  replied  Moini  Loungga  lashing  the  liquid  with  the 
end  of  the  match. 

What  a  flare  and  what  an  effect,  when  the  bluish  flames 
played  on  the  surface  of  the  basin.  Alvez,  doubtless  to  render 
that  alcohol  still  sharper,  had  mingled  with  it  a  few  handfuls 
of  sea  salt.  The  assistants'  faces  were  then  given  that  spec- 
tral lividness  that  the  imagination  ascribes  to  phantoms. 

Those  negroes,  drunk  in  advance,  began  to  cry  out,  to  ges- 
ticulate, and,  taking  each  other  by  the  band,  formed  an  im- 
mense circle  around  the  King  of  Kazounde. 

Alvez,  furnished  with  an  enormous  metal  spoon,  stirred 
the  liquid,  which  threw  a  great  white  glare  over  those  delirious 
monkeys. 

Moini  Loungga  advanced.  He  seized  the  spoon  from  the 
trader's  hands,  plunged  it  into  the  basin,  then,  drawing  it 
out  full  of  punch  in  flames,  he  brought  it  to  his  lips. 

What  a  cry  the  King  of  Kazounde  then  gave! 

An  act  of  spciutaneous  comluistion  had  just  taken  place. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT  FIFTEEN".  255 

The  king  had  taken  fire  like  a  petroleum  bonbon.  This  fire 
developed  little  heat,  but  it  devoured  none  the  less. 

At  this  spectacle  the  natives'  dance  was  suddenly  stopped. 

One  of  Moini  Loungga's  ministers  threw  himself  on  his  sov- 
ereign to  extinguish  him;  but,  not  less  alcoholized  than  his 
master,  he  took  fire  in  his  turn. 

In  this  vraj,  Moini  Loungga's  "whole  court  was  in  peril  of 
burning  up. 

Alvez  and  Xegoro  did  not  know  how  to  help  his  majesty. 
The  women,  frightened,  had  taken  flight.  As  to  Coimbra, 
he  took  his  departure  rapidly,  "well  knowing  bis  inflammable 
nature. 

The  king  and  the  minister,  who  had  fallen  on  the  ground, 
were  burning  up,  a  pre}'  to  frightful  sufferings. 

In  bodies  so  thoroughly  alcoholized,  combustion  only  pro- 
duces a  light  and  bluish  flame,  that  water  cannot  extinguish. 
Even  stifled  outside,  it  would  still  continue  to  burn  inwardly. 
"When  liquor  has  penetrated  all  the  tissues,  there  exists  no 
means  of  arresting  the  combustion. 

A  few  minutes  after,  ^Moini  Loungga  and  his  minister  had 
succumbed,  but  they  still  burned.  8oon,  in  the  place  where 
they  had  fallen,  there  was  nothing  left  but  a  few  light  coals, 
one  or  two  pieces  of  the  vertebral  column,  fingers,  toes,  that 
the  fire  does  not  consume,  in  cases  of  spontaneous  combus- 
tion, but  which  it  covers  with  an  infectious  and  penetrating 
soot. 

It  was  all  that  "svas  left  of  the  King  of  Kazouude  and  of 
his  minister. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

A      ROYAL     BURIAL. 

The  next  day,  May  2*Jth,  the  city  of  Kazonnde  presented  a 
strange  aspect."  The  natives,  terrified,  kept  thcnisflves  shut 
up  in  their  huts.  They  luid  never  seen  a  king,  who  said  he 
was  of  divine  essence,  nor  a  simple  minister,  die  of  this  horri- 
}>]('  death.  Tliey  had  already  Ijurned  some  of  their  fellow 
beings,  and  the  oldest  could  not  forget  certain  culinary 
pre])aration8  relating  to  cannibalism. 

They  knew  then  how  the  incineration  of  a  human  l)ody 
takes  place  with  dilliculty,  and   behold   their   king  and  liis 


2:>G  A   CAITAIN   AT  FIFTEEN". 

minister  had  burnt  all  alone!  That  seemed  to  them,  and  in- 
deed ou^lit  to  seem  to  them,  inexplicable. 

Joso-Antonio  Alvez  kept  still  in  bis  house.  He  might  fear 
that  be  would  be  held  ivspousible  for  the  accident.  Negoro 
luid  informed  him  of  what  had  passed,  warning  him  to  take 
care  of  himself.  To  charge  him  with  Moini  Loungga's  death 
might  be  a  bad  affair,  from  which  he  might  not  be  able  to 
extricate  himself  without  damage. 

But  Negoro  had  a  good  idea.  By  his  means  Alvez  spread 
the  report  that  the  death  of  Kazounde's  sovereign  was  super- 
natural; that  the  great  Manitou  only  reserved  it  for  his  elect. 
The  natives,  so  inclined  to  superstition,  accepted  this  lie. 
The  lire  that  came  out  of  the  bodies  of  the  king  and  his  min- 
ister became  a  sacred  fire.  They  had  nothing  to  do  but  honor 
Moini  Loungga  by  obsequies  worthy  of  a  man  elevated  to  the 
rank  of  the  gods. 

These  obsequies,  wnth  all  the  ceremonial  connected  with 
them  among  the  African  tribes,  was  an  occasion  offered  to 
Negoro  to  make  Dick  Sand  play  a  part.  What  this  death  of 
Moini  Loungga  was  going  to  cost  in  blood,  would  be  believed 
with  difficulty,  if  tiie  Central  Africa  travelers.  Lieutenant 
Cameron  among  others,  had  not  related  facts  that  cannot  be 
doubted. 

The  King  of  Kazounde's  natural  heir  was  the  Queen  Moini. 
Li  proceeding  without  delay  Avith  the  funeral  ceremonies  she 
acted  with  sovereign  authority,  and  could  thus  distance  the 
com})etitors,  among  others  that  King  of  the  Oukonson,  who 
t 'uded  to  encroaoh  upon  the  rights  of  Kazounde's  sovereigns. 
Besides,  Moini,  even  by  becoming  queen,  avoided  the  cruel 
fate  reserved  for  the  other  wives  of  the  deceased;  at  the  same 
time  she  would  get  rid  of  the  youngest  ones,  of  -whom  she, 
first  in  date,  had  necessarily  to  complain.  This  result  would 
particularly  suit  the  ferocious  temperament  of  that  vixen. 
(So  she  had  it  announced,  with  deer's  horns  and  other  instru- 
ments, that  the  obsequies  of  the  defunct  king  would  take  place 
the  next  evening  with  all  the  usual  ceremony. 

No  protestation  was  made,  neitlier  at  court  nor  from  the 
natives.  Alvez  and  the  other  traders  had  nothing  to  fear  from 
the  accession  of  this  Queen  Moini.  With  a  few  presents,  a 
few  flattering  remarks,  they  would  easily  subject  her  to  their 
influence.  Thus  the  royal  heritage  was  transmitted  without 
difficult}'.  There  was  terror  only  in  the  harem,  and  not 
without  reason. 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEX.  257 

The  preparatory  labors  for  the  funeral  Avere  commenced 
the  same  day.  At  the  end  of  the  principal  street  of  Ka- 
zounde  flowed  a  deep  and  rapid  stream,  an  afiluent  of  the 
Coango,  The  question  was  to  turn  this  stream  aside,  so  as 
to  leave  its  bed  dr\\  It  was  in  that  bed  that  the  royal  grave 
must  be  dug.  After  the  burial  the  stream  would  be  restored 
to  its  natural  channel. 

The  natives  were  busily  employed  in  constructing  a  dam, 
that  forced  the  stream  to  make  a  provisional  bed  across  the 
plain  of  Kazounde.  At  the  last  tableau  of  this  funeral  cere- 
mony the  barricade  would  be  broken,  and  the  torrent  would 
take  its  old  bed  again. 

Xegoro  intended  Dick  Sand  to  complete  the  number  of 
victims  sacrificed  on  the  king's  tomb.  He  had  been  a  witness 
of  the  young  novice's  irresistible  movement  of  anger,  when 
Harris  had  acquainted  him  with  the  death  of  Mrs.  Weldon 
and  little  Jack. 

Xegoro,  cowardly  rascal,  had  not  exposed  himself  to  the 
same  fate  as  his  accomplice.  But  now,  before  a  prisoner 
firmly  fastened  by  the  feet  and  hands,  he  supposed  he  had 
nothing  to  fear,  and  resolved  to  pay  him  a  visit.  Negoro  was 
one  of  those  miserable  wretches  who  are  not  satisfied  with 
torturing  their  victims;  they  must  also  enjoy  their  sufferings. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  day,  then,  he  repaired  to  the 
barrack  where  Dick  Sand  was  guarded,  in  sight  of  an  over- 
seer. Tliere,  closely  bound,  was  lying  the  young  novice,  al- 
most entirely  deprived  of  food  for  twenty-four  hours,  weak- 
ened by  past  misery,  tortured  by  those  Ijands  that  entered 
into  liis  flesh;  hardly  able  to  turn  himself,  he  was  waiting  for 
death,  no  matter  how  cruel  it  might  be,  as  a  limit  to  so  many 
evils. 

However,  at  the  sight  of  Xegoro  he  shuddered  from  head 
to  foot.  He  made  an  instinctive  effort  to  break  tlie  bands 
tliat  prevented  him  from  throwing  himself  on  that  miserable 
man  and  liaving  revenge. 

liut  Hercules  himself  would  not  succeed  in  breakingthem. 
He  understood  that  it  was  another  kind  of  contest  tluit  was 
going  to  take  place  between  the  two,  ;ind  arming  himself  with 
calmness,  Dick  Sand  comj)elle<l  himself  to  look  Negoro  right 
in  the  fafo,  and  decided  not  to  honor  him  with  a  rcjjly,  no 
matter  wlnit  he  might  say. 

"I  belicTcd  it  to  be  my  duty,"  Xcgoro  said  to  him  at  first, 
"to  come  to  salute  my  young  captain  for  the   last  lime,  and 


258  A  0\PTAI1^   AT  FIFTEEN. 

to  let  him  know  how  I  regret,  for  liis  sake,  that  he  docs  not 
command  here  any  longer,  as  he  commanded  on  board  the 
'Pilgrim.'" 

And,  seeing  that  Dick  Sand  did  not  reply: 

**  What,  captain,  do  you  no  longer  recognize  your  old  cook? 
He  comes,  however,  to  take  your  orders,  and  to  ask  you  what 
he  ought  to  serve  for  your  breakfast." 

At  the  same  time  ISegoro  brutally  kicked  the  young  novice, 
Avho  was  lying  on  the  ground. 

"  Besides,"  added  he,  "  I  should  have  another  question  to 
address  to  you,  my  young  captain.  Could  you  yet  explain  to 
me,  how,  wishing  to  land  on  the  American  coast,  you  have 
ended  by  arriving  in  Angola,  where  you  are?" 

Certainly,  Dick  Sand  had  no  more  need  of  the  Portuguese's 
words  to  understand  what  he  had  truly  divined,  when  he 
knew  at  last  that  the  "Pilgrim's"  conipass  must  have  been 
made  false  by  this  traitor.  But  NegoTo's  question  was  an 
avowal.     Still  he  only  replied  by  a  contemptuous  silence. 

"  You  will  acknowledge,  captain,"  continued  Negoro, 
"  that  it  was  iortunate  for  you  that  tYiere  was  a  seaman  on 
board — a  real  one,  at  that.  Great  God,  where  would  we  be 
without  him?  Instead  of  perishing  on  some  breaker,  where 
the  tempest  would  have  thrown  you,  you  have  arrived,  thanks 
to  him,  in  a  friendly  port,  and  if  it  is  to  any  one  that  you 
owe  being  at  last  in  a  safe  place,  Jt  is  to  that  seaman  whom 
you  have  wronged  in  despising,  my  young  master!" 

Speaking  thus,  Negoro,  whose  apparent  calmness  was  only 
the  result  of  an  immense  effort,  had  brought  his  form  near 
Dick  Sand.  His  face,  suddenly  become  ferocious,  touched 
him  so  closely  that  one  would  believe  that  he  was  going  to 
devour  him.     This  rascal  could  no  longer  contain  his  fury. 

"Every  dog  has  his  day!"  he  exclaimed,  in  the  paroxysm 
of  fury  excited  in  him  by  his  victim's  calmness.  "  To-day  I 
am  captain,  I  am  master!    Your  life  is  in  my  hands!" 

"Take  it,"  Sand  replied,  without  emotion.  "But,  know 
there  is  in  heaven  a  God,  avenger  of  all  crimes,  and  your  pun- 
ishment is  not  distant!" 

"  If  God  occupies  himself  with  human  beings,  there  is  only 
time  for  Him  to  take  care  of  you!'' 

"I  am  ready  to  appear  before  the  Supreme  Judge,"  replied 
Dick  Sand,  coldly,  "and  death  will  not  make  me  afraid." 

"  We  shall  see  about  that!"  howled  Negoro.  "  You  count 
on  help  of  some  kind,  perhaps— help  at  Kazoundc,  where 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  259 

Alve^  and  I  arc  all  powerful!  Yon  are  a  fool!  You  say  to 
yourself,  perhaps,  that  your  companions  are  still  there,  that 
old  Tom  and  the  others.  Undeceive  yourself.  It  is  a  long 
time  since  they  were  sold  and  sent  to  Zanzibar — too  fortunate 
if  they  do  not  die  of  fatigue  on  the  way!" 

"God  has  a  thousand  ways  of  doing  justice,"  replied  Dick 
Sand.  *'  The  smallest  instrument  is  sufficient  for  him. 
Hercules  is  free." 

"Hercules!"  exclaimed  Xegoro,  striking  the  ground  with 
his  foot;  "he  perished  long  ago  under  tlie  lions' and  pan- 
thers' teeth.  I  regret  only  one  thing,  that  is  that  those 
ferocious  beasts  should  have  forestalled  my  vengeance!" 

"If  Hercules  is  dead,"  rephed  Dick  Sand,  "Dingo  is 
alive.  A  dog  like  that,  Xcgoro,  is  more  than  enough  to  take 
revenge  on  a  man  of  your  kind.  I  know  you  well,  Xcgoro; 
you  are  not  brave.  Dingo  will  seek  for  you;  it  Avill  know 
how  to  find  you  again.  Some  day  you  will  die  under 
his  teeth!" 

"Miserable  boy!"  exclaimed  the  Portuguese,  exasperated. 
"Miserable  boy!  Dingo  died  from  a  ball  that  I  fired  at  it. 
It  is  dead,  like  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  son;  dead,  as  all  the 
survivors  of  the  *  Pilgrim  '  shall  die!" 

"  And  as  you  yourself  shall  die  before  long,"  replied  Dick 
Sand,  whose  tranquil  look  made  the  Portuguese  grow  pale. 

Negoro,  beside  himself,  was  on  the  point  of  passing  from 
words  to  deeds,  and  strangling  his  unarmed  prisoner  Avith  his 
hands.  Already  ho  had  sprung  upon  him,  and  Avas  shaking 
him  Avith  furv,  Avhen  a  sudden  reflection  stopped  him.  He 
remembered  'that  he  Avas  going  to  kill  his  victim,  Ihat  all 
would  be  over,  and  that  this  would  epare  him  the  tAventy-four 
hours  of  torture  he  intended  for  him.  He  then  stood  up, 
said  a  few  words  to  the  overseer,  standing  impassive,  com- 
manded him  to  Avatch  closely  over  the  prisoner,  and  went  out 
of  tlie  barrack. 

Instead  of  casting  him  down,  this  scene  had  restored  all 
Dick  Sand's  moral  force.  His  ])]iysical  energy  underwent  a 
happy  reaction,  and  at  the  same  time  regained  the  mastery. 
In  bending  over  him  in  his  rage,  had  Xegoro  slightly  loosened 
the  bands  tliat  till  then  had  rendered  all  movement  impossi- 
ble? It  was  pro])al)le,  for  Dick  Sand  thought  that  his  mem- 
bers had  more  play  than  ])ef()rr  the  arrival  of  his  executioner. 
The  young  novice,  feeling  solaced,  said  to  himself  that  pcr- 
liaps  it  Avould  be  possible  to  get  his  arms  free  Avithout  too 


260  A    CAPTAIN"   AT   FIFTEEN. 

much  effort.  Guarded  us  he  was,  in  a  prison  firmly  shut,  that 
would  doubtless  he  only  a  torture — only  a  sutt'ering  less;  but 
it  was  such  a  moment  in  lil'o  whcu  the  smallest  good  is  in- 
valual)Ie. 

Certainly,  Dick  Sand  hoped  for  nothing.  No  human  suc- 
cor could  come  to  himexcei)t  from  outside,  and  whence  could 
it  come  to  him?  He  was  then  resigned.  To  tell  the  truth, 
lie  no  longer  cared  to  live.  He  thought  of  all  those  who  had 
met  death  before  him,  and  he  only  aspired  to  join  them. 
Negoro  had  just  repeated  what  Harris  had  told  him:  "Mrs. 
Wcldon  and  little  Jack  had  succumbed."  It  was,  indeed, 
only  too  probable  that  Hercules,  exposed  to  so  many  dangers, 
must  have  perished  also,  and  from  a  cruel  death.  Tom  and 
his  companions  were  at  a  distance,  forever  lost  to  him — Dick 
Sand  ought  to  believe  it.  To  hope  for  anything  but  the  end 
of  his  troubles,  by  a  death  that  could  not  be  more  terrible 
than  his  life,  would  be  signal  folly.  He  then  prepared  to  die, 
above  all  throwing  himself  upon  God,  and  asking  courage 
from  him  to  go  on  to  the  end  without  giving  way.  But 
thoughts  of  God  are  good  and  noble  thoughts!  It  is  not  in 
vain  that  one  lifts  his  soul  to  Him  who  can  do  all,  and,  when 
Dick  Sand  had  offered  his  whole  sacrifice,  he  found  that,  if 
one  could  penetrate  to  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  he  might  per- 
htips  discover  there  a  last  ray  of  hope — that  glimmer  which  a 
breath  from  on  high  can  change,  in  spite  of  all  probabilities, 
into  dazzling  light. 

Tiie  hours  passed  away.  Night  came.  The  rays  of  light, 
that  penetrated  through  the  thatch  of  the  barrack,  gradually 
disa])pcarcd.  The  last  noises  of  the  "  tchitoka,"  which,  dur- 
ing that  day  had  been  very  silent,  after  the  frightful  uproar 
of  the  night  before — those  last  noises  died  out.  Darkness  be- 
came very  profound  in  the  interior  of  the  narrow  prison. 
Soon  all  reposed  in  the  city  of  Kazounde. 

Dick  Sand  fell  into  a  restoring  sleep,  that  lasted  two  hours. 
After  that  he  awoke,  still  stronger.  He  succeeded  in  freeing 
one  of  his  arms  from  their  bands — it  Avas  already  a  little  re- 
duced— and  it  was  a  delight  for  him  to  be  able  to  extend  it 
and  draw  it  back  at  will. 

The  night  must  be  half  over.  The  overseer  slept  with 
heavy  sleep,  due  to  a  bottle  of  brandy,  the  neck  of  which  was 
still  held  in  his  shut  hand.  The  savage  had  emptied  it  to  the 
last  drop.  Dick  Sand's  first  idea  was  to  take  possession  of 
his  jailer's  weapons,  Avhich  might  be  of  great  use  to  him  in 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  261 

case  of  escape;  but  at  that  moment  he  thought  he  heard  a 
slight  scratching  at  the  lower  part  of  the  door  of  the  bar- 
rack. Helping  himself  with  his  arms,  he  succeeded  in  crawl- 
ing as  far  as  the  door-sill  without  wakening  the  overseer. 

Dick  Sand  was  not  mistaken.  The  scratching  continued, 
and  in  a  more  distinct  manner.  It  seemed  that  from  the  out- 
side some  one  was  digging  the  earth  under  the  door.  Was  it 
an  animal?     "Was  it  a  man? 

"HerculesI  If  it  were  Hercules!"  the  young  novice  said 
to  himself. 

His  eyes  were  fixed  on  his  guard;  he  Avas  motionless,  and 
under  the  influence  of  a  leaden  sleep.  Dick  Sand,  bringing 
his  lips  to  the  door-sill,  thought  he  might  risk  murmuring 
Hercules's  name.  A  moan,  like  a  low  and  plaintive  bark, 
replied  to  him. 

"It  is  not  Hercules,"  said  Dick  to  himself,  *'but  it  is 
Dingo.  It  has  scented  me  as  far  as  this  barrack.  Should  he 
bring  me  anotlier  word  from  Hercules?  But  if  Dingo  is  not 
dead,  Xes'oro  has  lied,  and  perhaps " 

At  that  moment  a  paw  passed  under  the  door.  Dick  Sand 
seized  it,  and  recognized  Dingo's  paw.  But,  if  it  had  a  let- 
ter, that  letter  could  only  be  attached  to  its  neck.  What  to 
do?  Was  it  possible  to  make  that  hole  large  enough  for 
Dingo  to  put  in  its  head?     At  all  events,  he  must  try  it. 

But  hardly  had  Dick  Sand  begun  to  dig  the  soil  with  his 
nails,  than  barks  that  were  not  Dingo's  sounded  over  the 
place.  TJie  faithful  animal  had  just  been  scented  l)y  the 
native  dogs,  and  doubtless  could  do  nothing  more  than  take 
to  flight.  Some  detonations  burst  forth.  The  overseer  half 
awoke.  Dick  Sand,  no  longer  able  to  think  of  escajjing,  be- 
cause the  alarm  was  given,  must  then  roll  himself  up  again 
in  his  corner,  and,  after  a  lovely  hope,  he  saw  appear  that 
day  which  would  bo  without  a  to-morrow  for  him. 

During  all  that  day  the  grave-diggers'  labors  Avere  pushed 
on  with  Iji'isknoss.  A  large  number  of  natives  took  ]iart, 
untlor  the  direction  of  Queen  Moini's  first  minister.  All  must 
be  ready  at  the  liour  nanifd,  under  ))enally  of  mutilation,  for 
the  n(;w  sovereign  jtromi.sed  to  follow  the  defunct  king's  ways, 
point  by  point. 

'^I'hc  waters  of  the  brook  having  been  tuiiied  aside,  it  was 
in  tlic  dry  bed  tliat  the  vast  ditch  was  dug,  to  a  depth  of  tcu 
feel,  over  an  extent  of  fifty  feet  long  by  leu  wide. 


202  A  CAPTAIN"  AT  FIFTEEN". 

Toward  the  end  of  tlie  day  they  began  to  carpet  it,  at  tlie 
bottom  and  along  the  walls,  with  living  women,  chosen  among 
Moini  Loungga's  slaves.  Ccnerally  those  unfortunates  are 
huriod  alive.  Jiut,  on  account  of  this  strange  and  perhaps 
miraculous  death  of  ^loini  Loungga,  it  had  been  decided  that 
they  should  be  drowned  near  the  body  of  their  master. 

One  cannot  imagine  what  those  horrible  hecatombs  are, 
when  a  powerful  chief's  memory  must  be  fitly  honored  among 
these  tribes  of  Central  Africa.  Cameron  says  that  more  tlian 
a  hundred  victims  were  thus  sacrificed  at  the  funeral  ceremo- 
nies of  the  K'mg  of  Kassongo's  father. 

It  is  also  the  custom  for  the  defunct  king  to  be  dressed  in 
his  most  costly  clothes  before  being  laid  in  his  tomb.  But 
this  fmie,  as  there  was  nothing  left  of  the  royal  person  except 
a  few  burnt  bones,  it  was  necessary  to  proceed  in  another 
manner.  A  willow  manikin  was  made,  representing  Moini 
Loungga  sufSciently  well,  perliaps  advantageously,  and  in  it 
they  shut  up  the  remains  the  combustion  had  spared.  The 
manikin  was  then  clothed  with  the  royal  vestments — we  know 
that  those  clothes  are  not  worth  much — and  they  did  not  for- 
get to  ornament  it  with  Cousin  Benedict's  famous  spectacles. 
There  was  something  terribly  comic  in  this  masquerade. 

The  ceremony  would  take  place  with  torches  and  with  great 
pomp.  The  whole  population  of  Kazounde,  native  or  not, 
must  assist  at  it. 

When  the  evening  had  come,  a  long  cortege  descended  the 
principal  street,  from  the  iclutolca  as  far  as  the  burial  place. 
Cries,  funeral  dances,  magicians'  incantations,  noises  from 
instruments  and  detonations  from  old  muskets  from  the 
arsenals — nothing  was  lacking  in  it. 

Jose-Antonio  Alvez,  Coimbra,  Xegoro,  the  Arab  traders 
and  their  overseers  had  increased  the  ranks  of  Kazounde's 
people.  No  one  had  yet  left  the  great  lakoni.  Queen  Moini 
would  not  permit  it,  and  it  would  not  be  prudent  to  disobey 
the  orders  of  one  who  was  trying  the  trade  of  sovereign. 

The  body  of  the  king,  laid  in  a  palanquin,  was  carried  in 
the  last  ranks  of  the  cortege.  It  was  surrounded  by  his  wives 
of  the  second  order,  some  of  whom  were  going  to  accompany 
him  beyond  this  life.  Queen  ^loini,  in  great  state,  marched 
behind  what  might  be  called  the  catafalque.  It  was  positively 
night  when  all  the  people  arrived  on  tlie  banks  of  the  brock; 
but  the  resin  torches,  shaken  by  the  porters,  threw  great 
bursts  of  light  over  the  crowd. 


A  CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEX.  263 

The  ditch  was  seen  distinctly.  It  was  carjieted  with  black, 
living  bodies,  for  they  moved  under  the  chains  that  bound 
them  to  the  ground.  Fifty  slaves  were  waiting  there  till  the 
torrent  should  close  over  them.  The  majority  were  young 
natives,  some  resigned  and  mute,  others  giving  a  few  groans. 
The  wives,  all  dressed  as  for  a  fete,  and  who  must  perish,  had 
been  chosen  by  the  queen. 

One  of  these  victims,  she  who  bore  the  title  of  second  wife, 
was  bent  on  her  hands  and  knees,  to  serve  as  a  royal  foot- 
stool, as  she  had  done  in  the  king's  lifetime.  The  third  wife 
came  to  hold  up  the  manikin,  while  the  fourth  lay  at  its 
feet,  in  the  guise  of  a  cushion. 

Before  the  manikin,  at  the  end  of  the  ditch,  a  post,  painted 
red,  rose  from  the  earth.  To  this  post  was  fastened  a  white 
man,  who  was  going  to  be  counted  also  among  the  victims  of 
these  bloody  obsequies. 

That  white  man  was  Dick  Sand.  His  body,  half  naked, 
bore  the  marks  of  the  tortures  he  had  already  suffered  by 
Xegoro's  orders.  Tied  to  this  post,  he  waited  for  death  like 
a  man  who  has  no  hope  except  in  another  life. 

However,  the  moment  had  not  yet  arrived  when  the  barri- 
cade would  be  broken. 

On  a  signal  from  the  queen,  the  fourth  wife,  she  who  was 
placed  at  the  king's  feet,  was  beheaded  by  Kazounde's  exe- 
cutioner, and  her  blood  flowed  into  the  ditch.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  frightful  scene  of  butchery.  Fifty  slaves  fell 
under  the  executioner's  knife.  The  bed  of  the  river  ran 
waves  of  blood. 

During  half  an  hour  the  victims'  cries  mingled  with  the 
assistants'  vociferations,  and  one  would  seek  in  vain  in  that 
crowd  for  a  sentiment  of  repugnance  or  of  pity. 

At  last,  Queen  Moini  made  a  gesture,  and  the  barricade 
that  held  back  the  upjfcr  waters  gradually  opened.  \'>\  a  re- 
finement of  cruelty,  tl)e  current  was  allowed  to  filler  down 
the  river,  instead  of  being  precii)italed  by  an  instantaneous 
liursting  o|:)en  of  the  dam.  Slow  death  instead  of  quick 
death ! 

The  water  first  drowned  Ihe  carpet  of  slaves  which  covered 
the  l)ottoni  of  the  ditch.  Horrible  leaps  wore  made  by  those 
living  creatures,  who  fitruggled  against  asjihyxia.  '1  iiey  saw 
iJick  Sand,  submerged  to  the  knees,  make  a  last  effort  to 
break  his  bonds.  Hut  the  water  inoimted.  'J'lie  last  heads 
di8ai)jx>ared  under  the  torrent,  that  took  its  course  again,  and 


J.'G4:  A    CATTATN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

nothing  indicated  tliat  :ii  tlie  bottom  of  this  river  was  dug  a 
tomb,  whore  one  hundred  victims  liad  just  perished  in  honor 
of  Kazouiide's  king. 

The  \)cu  Avouhl  refuse  to  paint  such  pictures,  if  regard  for 
tl»e  trutii  did  not  im])ose  the  duty  of  describing  tliem  in  tlieir 
abominable  reality.  Man  is  still  there,  in  those  sad  coun- 
tries.    To  be  ignorant  of  it  is  not  allowable. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  INTERIOR  OF  A  FACTORY. 

Harris  and  Negoro  had  told  a  lie  in  saying  that  Mrs. 
"W'eldon  and  little  Jack  Avere  dead.  She,  her  son,  and  Cousin 
Benedict  were  then  in  Kazounde, 

After  the  assault  on  the  ant-hill,  they  had  been  taken  away 
beyond  the  canij)  on  the  Coanza  by  Harris  and  Negoro,  ac- 
companied by  a  dozen  native  soldiers. 

A  })alanquin,  the  "  kitanda  "  of  the  country,  received  Mrs. 
Weldon  and  I'ttle  Jack.  Why  such  care  on  the  part  of  such 
a  man  as  Xegoro?  Mrs.  Wei  don  was  afraid  to  explain  it  to 
herself. 

The  journey  from  the  Coanza  to  Kazounde  was  made  rap- 
idly and  without  fatigue.  Cousin  Benedict,  on  whom  trouble 
seemed  to  have  no  effect,  walked  with  a  firm  step.  As  he 
■was  allowed  to  search  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  he  did  not 
think  of  complaining.  The  little  troop,  then,  arrived  at 
Kazounde  eight  days  before  Ibn  Hamis's  caravan.  Mrs.  Wel- 
don  was  shut  up,  with  her  child  and  Cousin  Benedict,  in 
Alvez's  establishment. 

Little  Jack  was  much  better.  On  leaving  the  marshy 
country,  where  he  had  taken  the  fever,  lie  gradually  became 
better,  and  now  he  was  doing  well.  No  doubt  neither  he  nor 
his  mother  could  have  borne  the  hardships  of  the  caravan; 
but  owing  to  the  inanner  in  wliich  they  had  made  this  jour- 
ney, during  which  they  had  been  given  a  certain  amount  of 
care,  they  were  in  a  satisfactory  condition,  physically  at  least. 

As  to  her  companions,  Mrs.  Weldon  had  heard  nothing  of 
thoin.  After  having  seen  Hercules  flee  into  the  forest,  she 
did  not  know  what  had  become  of  him.  As  to  Dick  Sand,  as 
Harris  and  Negoro  were  no  longer  there  to  torture  him,  she 
hoped  that  his  being  a  white  man  would  perhaps  spare  him 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   riFTEEX,  265 

some  bad  treatment.  As  to  Xan,  Tom,  Bat,  ATistin,  and 
Acteoii,  they  were  blacks,  and  it  "was  too  certain  that  they 
■svonid  be  treated  as  such.  Poor  people!  who  sliould  never 
liave  trodden  that  hind  of  Africa,  and  whom  treachery  had 
just  cast  there. 

When  Ibn  Hamis's  caravan  liad  arrived  at  Kazounde,  Mrs. 
Weldon,  having  no  communication  with  the  outer  world, 
could  not  know  of  the  fact:  neither  did  the  noises  from  the 
laJconi  tell  her  anything.  She  did  not  know  that  Tom 
and  his  friends  had  been  sold  to  a  trader  from  Oujiji,  and 
that  they  would  soon  set  out.  She  neither  knew  of  llarris's 
punishment,  nor  of  King  Moini  Loungga's  death,  nor  of  the 
royal  funeral  ceremonies,  that  had  added  Dick  Sand  to  so 
many  other  victims.  So  the  unfortunate  woman  found  her- 
self alone  at  Kazounde,  at  the  trader's  mercy,  in  Negoro's 
power,  and  she  could  not  even  think  of  dying  in  order  to 
escape  him,  because  her  child  was  with  her. 

Mrs.  Weldon  was  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  fate  that 
awaited  her.  Harris  and  Xegoro  had  not  addressed  a  word 
to  her  during  the  whole  journey  from  the  Coanza  to  Ka- 
zounde. Since  her  arrival,  phe  had  not  seen  either  of  them 
again,  and  slie  could  not  leave  the  enclosure  around  the  rich 
trader's  pi-ivate  establishment.  Is  it  necessary  to  say  now 
that  Mrs.  Weldon  liad  found  no  help  in  her  large  child. 
Cousin  Benedict?     That  is  understood. 

"Wlien  the  worthy  savant  learned  that  he  Avas  not  on  the 
American  continent,  as  he  believed,  he  was  not  at  all  anxious 
to  know  how  that  could  have  happened.  No!  His  first  move- 
ment was  a  gesture  of  anger.  The  insects  that  he  imagined 
he  had  been  the  first  to  discover  in  America,  those  fsefse.s  and 
others,  were  only  mere  African  liexapodcs,  found  by  many 
naturalists  before  him,  in  their  native  jjlaces.  Farewell,  then, 
to  the  glory  of  attaching  his  name  to  those  discoveries!  In 
fact,  as  hcwas  in  Africa,  what  could  there  be  astonishing  in 
the  circumstance  that  Cousin  Benedict  had  collected  African 
insects. 

But  the  first  anger  over.  Cousin  licncdici  said  io  liiinsclf 
that  the  "  Land  of  the  Pharaohs"— so  he  still  CMllcd  it— jios- 
scssed  inconipaiable  <ntoniological  riches,  and  that  so  far  as 
not  Iteing  in  the  "Land  of  the  Iiicas"  was  coiiccnicd.  he 
would  not  l(jse  by  the  cliaiige. 

"  Ah!"  lie  repeated  to  himself,  and  even  repeated  to  Mrs. 
Weldon,  who  hardly  listened  to  him,  "  this  is  the  country  of 


26G  A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

the  n)antiro7'es,  those  coleoptercs  with  long  hairy  feet,  with 
Melded  and  sharj)  wing-sliells,  with  enormous  mandibles,  of 
\vhich  the  most  remarkable  is  the  tuberculous  manticore.  It 
is  the  country  of  the  caJosonics  with  golden  ends;  of  the 
Cioliaths  of  Ciuinea  and  of  the  Gal)on,  wliose  feet  are  fur- 
nished with  thorns;  of  the  sacred  Egyptian  atencJms,  that 
the  Egyptians  of  Upper  Egypt  venerated  as  gods.  It  is  here 
that  those  si)hinxes  witli  heads  of  death,  now  spread  over  all 
Europe,  belong,  and  also  those  "  Idias  IJigote,"  whose  sting 
is  particularly  dreaded  by  the  Sencgalians  of  the  coast.  Yes; 
there  are  superb  things  to  be  found  here,  and  I  shall  find 
them,  if  these  honest  j)eople  will  only  let  me." 

"We  know  who  those  ''honest  people"  were,  of  whom 
Cousin  Benedict  did  not  dream  of  complaining.  Besides,  it 
has  been  stated,  the  entomologist  had  enjoyed  a  half  liberty 
in  Negoro's  and  Harris's  company,  a  liberty  of  which  Dick 
Sand  had  absolutely  deprived  him  during  the  voyage  from 
the  coast  to  the  Coanza.  Tlic  simple-hearted  savant  had 
been  veiy  much  touched  by  that  condescension. 

Finally,  Cousin  Benedict  would  be  the  happiest  of  ento- 
mologists if  he  had  not  sufi'ered  a  loss  to  which  he  was 
cxtremel}'  sensitive.  He  still  posseted  his  tin  box,  but  his 
glasses  no  longer  rested  on  his  nose,  liis  magnifying  glass  no 
longer  hung  from  his  neck!  Now,  a  naturalist  without  his 
magnifying  glass  and  his  spectacles,  no  longer  exists.  Cousin 
Benedict,  however,  Vvas  destined  never  to  see  those  two  op- 
tical attendants  again,  because  they  had  been  buried  with  the 
royal  manikin.  So,  when  he  found  some  insect,  he  was 
reduced  to  thrusting  it  into  his  e3cs  to  distinguish  its  most 
prominent  peculiarities.  Ah!  it  was  a  great  loss  to  Cousin 
Benedict,  and  he  would  have  paid  a  high  price  for  a  pair  of 
spectacles,  but  that  article  was  not  current  on  the  Jakonis 
ot  Kazounde.  At  all  events,  Cousin  Benedict  could  go  and 
come  in  Jose-Antonio  Alvez's  establishment.  They  knew  he 
was  incapable  of  seeking  to  flee.  Besides,  a  high  palisade 
separated  the  factory  from  the  other  quarters  of  the  city,  and 
it  would  not  be  easy  to  get  over  it. 

But,  i  fit  was  well  enclosed,  this  enclosure  did  not  measure 
less  than  a  mile  in  circumference.  Trees,  bushes  of  a  kind 
])eculiar  to  Africa,  great  herbs,  a  few  rivulets,  the  thatch  of 
the  barracks  and  tlie  huts,  Avere  more  than  necessar}'  to  con- 
ceal the  continent's  rarest  insects,  and  to  make  Cousin  Bene- 
dict's happiness,  at  least,  if  not  his  fortune.     In  fact,  he  dis- 


u 


'l>AVin  UVINOHTOXE,    I   I'HKHrMB*"       "YEH."    IIKPI.TED  TIIK    LAITKIt.    IIAIHINO 
HIH  CAP.— .'*•«  /<(/(/«  27U. 


A    CAPTAIX    AT    FIFTEEK".  267 

covered  some  liexapodes,  and  nearly  lost  Lis  eyesight  in  try- 
ing to  study  them  without  spectacles.  But,  at  least,  he  added 
to  his  precious  collection,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  great 
work  on  African  entomolog}'.  If  his  lucky  star  would  let 
him  discover  a  new  insect,  to  which  he  would  attach  his 
name,  he  would  have  nothing  more  to  desire  in  this  world! 

If  Alvez's  estahlishment  was  sufficiently  large  for  Cousin 
Benedict's  scientific  promenades,  it  seemed  immense  to  little 
Jack,  who  could  Avalk  about  there  Avithout  restraint.  But 
the  child  took  little  interest  in  the  pleasures  so  natural  to  his 
age.  He  rarely  quitted  his  mother,  who  did  not  like  to  leave 
him  alone,  and  always  dreaded  some  misfortune. 

Little  Jack  often  spoke  of  his  father,  Avhom  he  had  not  seen 
forsolong.  Heasked  to  be  taken  back  tohim.  He  in  qui  red  after 
all,  for  old  Xan,  for  his  friend  Hercules,  for  Bat,  for  Austin, 
for  Acteon,  and  for  Dingo,  that  appeared,  indeed,  to  have  de- 
serted him.  He  wished  to  see  his  comrade,  Dick  .Sand,  again. 
His  young  imagination  was  very  much  affected,  and  only  lived 
in  those  remembrances.  To  his  questions  Mrs.  Weldon  could 
only  reply  by  pressing  him  to  her  heart,  while  covering  him 
with  kisses.  All  that  she  could  do  was  not  to  cry  before 
him. 

Meanwhile,  Mrs.  Weldon  had  not  failed  to  observe  that,  if 
bad  treatment  had  been  spared  her  during  the  journey  from 
the  Coanza,  nothing  in  Alvez's  establishment  indicated  that 
there  would  be  any  change  of  conduct  in  regard  to  her, 
Tiiere  were  in  the  factory  only  the  slaves  in  the  trader's  ser- 
vice. All  the  others,  Avhich  formed  the  object  of  his  trade, 
had  been  penned  up  in  the  barracks  of  the  tchitoka,  then 
sold  to  the  brokers  from  the  interior. 

Now,  the  storehouses  of  the  establishment  were  overflowing 
with  stuffs  and  ivory.  The  stuffs  were  intended  to  be  ex- 
changed in  the  provinces  of  the  center,  the  ivory  to  be  ex- 
ported from  tiic  principal  markets  of  the  continent. 

In  fact,  then,  there  were  few  people  in  the  factory.  Mrs. 
"Weldon  and  Jack  occupied  a  hut  apart;  Cousin  Benedict  an- 
other. They  did  not  communicate  witli  the  trader's  servants. 
They  ate  together.  The  food,  consisting  of  goat's  flesh  or 
mutton,  vegetables,  ta])ioca,  sorgho,  and  the  fruits  of  the 
country,  was  sufficient. 

Ilabma,  a  young  rlave,  was  especially  devoted  to  Mrs.  Wei- 
don's  service.  In  her  way,  and  as  she  could,  she  even  evinced 
for  iier  a  kind  of  savage,  but  certainly  sincere,  affection. 


2fi8  A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

Mi-s.  WoMoi\  hardly  saw  Jose-Antonio  Alvcz,  avIio  occu- 
pied the  prin('i[)al  house  of  the  factory.  She  did  not  sec  N e- 
goro  at  all,  as  he  lodged  outside;  but  his  absence  \vj\s  quite 
inexplicable.  This  absence  continued  to  astonish  her,  and 
make  her  feel  anxious  at  the  same  time. 

*'  What  does  he  want?  What  is  he  waiting  for?"  she  asked 
herself.     **  Why  has  he  brought  us  to  Kazounde?" 

80  had  passed  the  eight  days  that  preceded  and  followed 
the  arrival  of  Ibn  Haniis's  caravan — that  is,  the  two  days  be- 
fore the  funeral  ceremonies,  and  the  six  days  that  followed. 

In  the  midst  of  so  many  anxieties,  Mrs.  Weldon  could  not 
forget  that  her  husband  must  bo  a  prey  to  the  most  frightful 
despair,  on  not  seeing  either  his  Avife  or  his  son  return  to  San 
Francisco.  Mr.  Weldon  could  not  know  that  his  wife  had 
adopted  that  fatal  idea  of  taking  j)assage  on  board  the  '*  Pil- 
grim," and  he  would  believe  that  she  had  embarked  on  one 
of  the  steamers  of  the  Trans- Pacific  Company.  Now,  these 
steamers  arrived  regularly,  and  neither  Mrs.  Weldon,  nor 
Jack,  nor  Cousin  Benedict  were  on  them.  Besides,  the  "  Pil- 
grim" itself  was  already  overdue  at  San  Francisco.  As  she 
did  not  reappear,  James  AV.  AVeldon  must  now  rank  lier  in 
the  category  of  ships  supposed  to  be  lost,  because  not  heard 
of. 

What  a  terrible  blow  for  him,  when  news  of  the  departure 
of  the  "  Pilgrim "  and  the  embarkation  of  Mrs.  Weldon 
should  reach  him  from  his  correspondents  in  Auckland! 
What  had  he  done?  Had  he  refused  to  believe  that  his  son  and 
she  had  perished  at  sea?  But  then,  where  would  he  search? 
Evidently  on  the  isles  of  the  Pacific,  perhaps  on  the  Ameri- 
can coast.  But  never,  no  never,  Avould  the  thought  occur  to 
him  that  she  had  been  thrown  on  the  coast  of  this  fatal 
Africa! 

So  thought  ^NErs.  Weldon.  But  what  could  she  attempt? 
Flee!  How?  She  was  closely  watched.  And  then  to  flee 
was  to  venture  into  those  thick  forests,  in  the  midst  of  a 
thousand  dangers,  to  attempt  a  journey  of  more  than  two 
hundred  miles  to  reach  the  coast.  And  meanwhile  Mrs.  Wel- 
don was  decided  to  do  it,  if  no  other  means  offered  them- 
selves for  her  to  recover  her  liljcrty.  But,  first,  she  wished 
to  know  ex;ictly  what  Xegoro's  designs  were. 

At  last  she  knew  them. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  three  days  after  the  l)urial  of  Ka- 
zounde's  king,  Negoro  entered  the  factory,  where  he  had  not 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN".  269 

yet  €et  foot  since  his  retum.     He  went  right  to  the  hut  occu- 
pied by  his  prisoner. 

Mrs.  Weldon  was  alone.     Cousin  Benedict  was  taking  one 

of  his   scientific  walks.     Little  Jack,  watched  by  the  slave 

Halima,  was  walking  in  the  enclosure  of  the  establishment. 

Xegoro  pushed  open  the  door  of  the  hut  without  knocking, 

*'  Mrs.  Weldon,''  said  he,  '•Tom  and  his  companions  have 
been  sold  for  the  markets  of  Oujiji!" 

''May  God  protect  them!"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  shedding 
tears. 

'•  Xan  died  on  the  way.  Dick  Sand  has  perished " 

**Xandead!  and  Dick'.''  cried  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  Yes,  it  is  just  for  your  captain  of  fifteen  to  pay  for  Har- 
ris's murder  with  his  life,'' continued  Xegoro.  "You  are 
alone  in  Kazounde,  mistress;  alone,  in  the  power  of  the 
'Pilgrim's'  old  cook— absolutely  alone,  do  you  understand?" 

What  Xegoro  said  was  only  too  true,  even  concerning  Tom 
and  his  friends.  The  old  black  man,  his  son  Bat,  Acteon 
and  Austin  had  departed  the  day  before  with  the  trader  of 
Oujiji's  caravan,  without  the  consolation  of  seeing  Mrs.  Wel- 
don again,  without  even  knowing  that  their  companion  in 
misery  was  in  Kazounde,  in  Alvez's  establishment.  They  had 
departed  for  the  lake  country,  a  journey  figured  by  hundreds 
of  miles,  that  very  few  accomplish,  and  from  which  very  few 
return. 

"  Well?''  murmured  Mrs.  Weldon,  looking  at  Negoro  with- 
out answering. 

*'  Mrs.  Weldon,"  returned  the  Portuguese,  in  an  abrupt 
voice,  "I  could  revenge  myself  on  3-ou  for  the  bad  treatment 
I  suffered  on  board  the  'Pilgrim.'  But  Dick  Sand's  death 
will  satisfy  my  vengeance.  Now,  mistress,  I  become  the 
merchant  again,  and  behold  my  projects  with  regard  to  you." 

Mrs.  Weldon  looked  at  him  without  saying  a  word. 

"You,"  continued  the  Portuguese,  "your  child,  and  that 
imbecile  who  runs  after  the  flies,  vou  have  a  commercial 
value  which  I  intend  to  utilize.     So  1  am  going  to  sell  you." 

"I  am  of  a  free  race,"  replied  Mrs.  AVeldon,  in  a  firm 
tone. 

"  You  are  a  slave,  if  I  wish  it." 

"And  who  would  buy  a  white  woman?" 

"A  man  who  will   )»av  for  her  whatever  I  shall  ask  him." 

Mrs.  Wfldoii  bent  her  head  for  a  niorncnt.  for  she  knew 
that  anything  was  possible  in  that  frightful  countiy. 


270  A   CAPTAIK   AT  FIFTEEN". 

"You  liavc  licard?"  continued  Negoro. 

"  AVho  is  this  nuui  to  wliom  you  ^vill  pretend  to  sell  me?" 
replied  Mrs.  Weldon. 

•'  To  sell  you  or  to  re-sell  you.  At  least,  I  suppose  sol" 
ndded  the  Portuguese,  sneering. 

"The  name  of  this  man?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"  'J'his  man — he  is  James  W.  AVeldon,  your  husband." 

*' My  husband!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Weldon,  who  could  not 
believe  what  she  had  just  heard. 

"  Himself,  Mrs.  AVeldon — your  husband,  to  whom  I  do 
not  wish  simply  to  restore  his  wife,  his  child,  and  his  cousin, 
but  to  sell  them,  and,  at  a  high  price." 

^Irs.  Weldon  asked  herself  if  IS'egoro  was  not  setting  a  trap 
for  her.  HowcYcr,  she  believed  he  Avas  speaking  seriously. 
To  a  wretch  to  whom  money  is  everything,  it  seems  that  we 
can  trust,  when  business  is  in  question.  Now,  this  was  busi- 
ness. 

"  j^nd  when  do  you  propose  to  make  this  business  opera- 
tion?" returned  Mrs.  Yveldon. 

"  As  soon  as  possible." 

^'W'here?" 

"Just  here.  Certainly  James  W^eldon  will  not  hesitate  to 
come  as  far  as  Kazounde  for  his  wife  and  son." 

"No,  he  will  not  hesitate.     But  who  will  tell  him?" 

"I!  I  shall  go  to  San  Francisco  to  find  James  Weldon. 
I  have  money  enough  for  this  voyage." 

"The  money  stolen  from  on  board  the  'Pilgrim?'" 

"  Yes,  that,  and  more  besides,"  replied  Negoro,  insolently. 
"  But,  if  I  wish  to  sell  you  soon,  I  also  w^ish  to  sell  you  at  a 
high  i)rice.  I  think  that  James  Weldon  will  not  regard  a  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars " 

"lie  will  not  regard  them,  if  he  can  give  them,"  replied 
Mrs.  Weldon,  coldly.  "Only  my  liusband,  to  whom  you 
will  sav,  doubtless,  that  I  am  held  a  prisoner  at  Kazounde,  in 
Centra"l  Africa " 

"Precisely!" 

"My  husband  will  not  believe  you  without  proofs,  and  he 
Avill  not  be  so  imprudent  as  to  come  to  Kazounde  on  your 
word  alone." 

"  lie  will  conic  here,"  returned  Kegoro,  "if  I  bring  him  a 
letter  written  by  you,  which  Avill  tell  him  your  situation, 
which  will  descrihe  me  as  a  faithful  servant,  escaped  from  the 
hands  of  these  savages." 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEE2«-.  271 

"My  hand  shall  never  write  that  letter!"  Mrs.  Weldon  re- 
plied, in  a  still  colder  manner. 

"You  refuse?"  exclaimed  Negoro. 

"I  refuse!" 

The  thought  of  the  dangers  her  husband  "^'ould  pass 
through  in  coming  as  far  as  Kazounde,  the  little  dependence 
that  could  be  placed  on  the  Portuguese's  promises,  the  facility 
with  which  the  latter  could  retain  James  "Weldon,  after  tak- 
ing the  ransom  agreed  upon,  all  these  reasons  taken  together 
made  Mrs.  Weldon  refuse  Xegoro's  proposition  flatly  and  at 
once.  Mrs.  Weldon  spoke  thinking  only  of  herself,  forgetting 
her  child  for  the  moment. 

"  You  shall  write  that  letter!"  continued  the  Portuguese. 

"No!"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon  again. 

"Ah,  take  care!"  exclaimed  N'egoro.  "You  are  not  alone 
here!  Your  child  is,  like  you,  in  my  power,  and  I  well  know 
how " 

Mrs.  Weldon  wished  to  reply  that  that  would  be  impossi- 
ble. Her  heart  Avas  beating  as  if  it  Avould  break;  she  was 
voiceless. 

"Mrs.  Weldon,"  said  Xegoro,  "you  will  reflect  on  the 
offer  I  have  made  you.  In  eight  days  you  will  have  handed 
me  a  letter  to  James  Weldon"s  address,  or  you  will  repent 
of  it." 

That  said,  the  Portuguese  retired,  without  giving  vent  to 
his  anger;  Init  it  was  easy  to  see  that  nothing  would  stop  him 
from  constraining  Mrs.  Weldon  to  obey  him. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SOME    NEWS   OF    DR.    LIVINGSTONE. 

Left  alone,  Mrs.  Weldon  at  first  only  fixed  hor  mind  on 
this  thought,  that  eight  days  would  pass  before  iS'egoro  would 
return  for  a  definite  answer.  There  was  time  to  reflect  and 
decide  on  a  course  of  action.  There  could  be  no  question  of 
the  Portuguese's  ])rol)ity  except  in  bis  own  interest.  The 
"market  vabu;  "  that  he  attributed  to  liis])risoner  would  evi- 
dently be  a  safeguard  for  her,  and  ])rotect  her  for  the  time, 
at  least,  against  any  temptation  that  might  put  her  in  danger. 


273  A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN. 

Perhaps  she  would  tliink  of  a  compromise  tliat  would  restore 
hor  to  her  liushaiid  witliout  ol)li<Ting  Mr.  Weldon  to  come  to 
Kazounde.  On  receipt  of  a  letter  from  his  wife,  she  well 
knew  tliat  James  Weldon  would  set  out.  lie  would  brave  the 
perils  of  this  journey  into  the  most  dangerous  countries  of 
Africa,  lint,  once  at  Kazounde,  when  Negoro  should  have 
that  fortune  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  his  hands,  what 
guaranty  would  James  W.  Weldon,  his  wife,  his  son  and 
Cousin  Benedict  have,  that  they  would  be  allowed  to  depart? 
Could  not  Queen  Moini's  caprice  prevent  them?  Would  not 
this  *'sale"  of  Mrs.  Weldon  and  hers  bo  better  accomplished 
if  it  took  place  at  the  coast,  at  some  point  agreed  upon,  which 
would  spare  Mr.  Weldon  both  the  dangers  of  the  journey  to 
the  interior,  and  the  difficulties,  not  to  say  the  impossibili- 
ties, of  a  return? 

So  reflected  Mrs.  Weldon.  That  was  why  she  had  refused 
at  once  to  accede  to  Xcgoro's  proposition  and  give  him  a  let- 
ter for  her  husband.  She  also  thought  that,  if  Negoro  had 
put  off  his  second  visit  for  eight  days,  it  was  because  ho 
needed  that  time  to  prepare  for  his  journey.  If  not,  he  would 
return  sooner  to  force  her  consent. 

"Would  ho  really  separate  me  from  my  child?"  murmured 
she. 

At  that  moment  Jack  entered  the  hut,  and,  by  an  instinct- 
ive movement,  his  mother  seized  him,  as  if  Negoro  were  there, 
ready  to  snatch  him  from  her. 

**  You  are  in  great  grief,  mother?"  asked  the  little  boy. 

"No,  dear  Jack,"  replied  Mrs.  Weldon;  "I  was  thinking 
of  your  papa!    You  would  be  very  glad  to  see  him  again?" 

"Oh!  yes,  mother!     Is  he  going  to  come?" 

"No!  no!     He  must  not  come!" 

"Then  we  will  go  to  see  him  again?" 

"Yes,  darling  Jack!" 

"  With  my  friend  Dick — and  Hercules — and  old  Tom?" 

"Yes!  yes!"  replied  Mrs.  AYeldon,  putting  her  head  down 
to  hide  her  tears. 

"  lias  papa  written  to  you?"  asked  little  Jack. 

"  No,  iny  love." 

"  Then  you  are  going  to  write  to  him,  mother?" 

"Yes — yes — })erhaps!"  replied  Mrs.  AVeldon. 

And  without  knowing  it,  little  Jack  entered  directly  into 
his  mother's  thoughts.  To  avoid  answering  him  further,  she 
covered  him  with  kisses. 


A  CAPTAIX  AT  FIFTEEN".  273 

It  must  be  stated  that  another  motive  of  some  value  was 
joined  to  the  different  reasons  that  had  urged  ^Mr?.  Weldou 
to  resist  Xegoro's  injunctions.  Perhaps  Mrs.  Weldon  had  a 
ver}'  unexjxM^ted  chance  of  being  restored  to  liberty  without 
her  husband's  intervention,  and  even  against  Xegoro's  will. 
It  was  only  a  faint  ray  of  hojie,  very  vague  as  yet,  but  it  was 
one. 

In  fact,  a  few  words  of  conversation  overheaitl  by  her  sev- 
eral days  before,  made  her  foresee  a  possible  succor  near  at 
hand — one  might  say  a  providential  succor. 

Alvez  and  a  mongrel  from  Oujiji  were  talking  a  few  steps 
from  the  hut  occupied  by  Mrs.  Weldon.  It  is  not  astonisli- 
ing  that  the  slave-trade  was  the  subject  of  conversation  be- 
tween those  worthy  merchants.  The  two  brokers  in  human 
flesh  were  talking  business.  They  were  discussing  the  future 
of  their  commerce,  and  were  worried  alx)ut  the  efforts  the 
English  wci'e  making  to  destioy  it — not  onl}'  on  the  exterior, 
by  cruisers,  but  in  the  interior,  by  their  missionaries  and 
their  tmvelers. 

Jose-Antonio  Alvez  found  that  the  explorations  of  these 
hardy  pioneers  could  only  injure  commercial  operations.  Ilis 
interlocutor  shared  his  views,  and  thought  that  all  these  vis- 
itors, civil  or  religious,  should  be  received  with  gun-shots. 

This  had  been  done  to  some  extent.  But,  to  the  great  dis- 
pleasure of  the  tradei-s,  if  they  killed  some  of  these  curious 
ones,  others  escaped  them.  Kow,  these  latter,  on  returning 
to  their  countr}',  recounted  "with  exaggerations, "  Alvez  said, 
the  liorrors  of  the  slave-trade,  and  that  injured  this  com- 
merce immensely — it  being  too  much  diminished  already. 

Tlie  mongrel  agreed  to  that,  and  de))lorcd  it;  above  all, 
concerning  the  markets  of  K'^angwe,  of  Oujiji,  of  Zanzibar, 
and  of  all  the  great  lake  regions.  There  had  come  succes- 
sively, Speke,  Grant,  Livingstone,  Stanley,  and  others.  It 
was  an  invasion!  Soon  all  England  and  all  America  would 
occupy  the  country! 

Alvez  sincerely  jiitied  his  comrade,  and  he  declared  that  the 
provinces  of  Wi'steru  Africa  had  heen,  till  that  time,  less 
badly  treated — that  is  to  saj',  less  visited;  but  the  eitidcniic  of 
travelers  was  l>eginning  to  s))read.  If  Kazounde  had  been 
spared,  it  was  not  so  with  Cassange,  and  with  l*)ilie,  when^ 
Alvez  owned  factories.  It  may  be  remembered,  also,  that 
Harris  had  spoken  to  Negoro  of  a  certain  Lieutenant  Cam- 
eion,   wlio   miglit,  indeed,  have  the  prc8umi)tion  to   cross 


.374  A   CVPTAIN"    AT   FIFTEE^ST. 

Africa  from  one  side  to  the  other,  and  after  entering  it  by 
Zanzibar,  leave  it  by  Angohi. 

In  fact,  the  trader  had  reason  to  fear,  and  we  know  that, 
some  years  after,  Cameron  to  the  soutli  and  Statiley  to  the 
north,  were  going  to  explore  these  little-known  provinces  of 
the  west,  describe  the  ])ermanent  monstrosities  of  the  trade, 
unvail  the  guilty  com})licities  of  foreign  agents,  and  make  the 
responsibility  fall  on  the  right  i)artics. 

Neither  Alvcz  nor  the  mongrel  could  know  anything  yet  of 
this  exploration  of  Cameron's  and  of  Stanley's;  but  what 
they  did  know,  what  they  said,  what  Mrs.  Weldon  heard,  and 
what  was  of  such  great  interest  to  her — in  a  word,  wliat  liad 
sustained  her  in  her  refusal  to  subscribe  at  once  to  Negoro's 
demands,  was  this: 

Before  long,  very  probably.  Dr.  David  Livingstone  would 
arrive  at  Kazounde. 

Now,  the  arrival  of  Livingstone  with  his  escort,  the  in- 
fluence which  the  great  traveler  enjoyed  in  Africa,  the  con- 
course of  Portuguese  authorities  from  Angola  that  could  not 
fail  to  meet  him,  all  that  might  bring  about  the  deliverance 
of  j\Irs.  Weldon  and  hers,  in  spite  of  Negoro,  in  spite  of  Al- 
vez.  It  was  perhaps  their  restoration  to  their  country  withiu 
a  short  time,  and  without  James  W.  Weldon  risking  his  life 
in  a  journey,  the  result  of  which  could  only  bo  deplorable. 

But  was  there  any  probability  that  Dr.  Livingstone 
would  soon  visit  that  part  of  the  continent?  Yes,  for  in  fol- 
lowing that  missionary  tour,  he  was  going  to  complete  the 
exploration  of  Central  Africa.  i 

We  know  the  heroic  life  of  this  son  of  the  tea  merchant, 
who  lived  in  Blantyre,  a  village  in  the  county  of  Lanark. 
Born  on  the  13th  of  Marcli,  1813,  David  Livingstone,  the 
second  of  six  children,  became,  by  force  of  study,  both  a 
theologian  and  doctor.  After  making  his  noviciate  in  the 
"London  ^lissionary  Society,"  he  embarked  for  the  Cape  in 
18-40,  with  the  intention  of  joining  the  missionary  Molfat  in 
Southern  Africa. 

From  the  Cape,  the  future  traveler  repaired  to  the  country 
of  the  Bechnanas,  which  he  exj)lored  for  the  first  time,  re- 
turned to  Kuruman  and  married  Moifat's  daughter,  that 
brave  comi)anion  who  would  be  worthy  of  him.  In  1843  ho 
founded  a  mission  in  the  valley  of  the  Ma})otsa. 

Four  years  later,  we  find  him  established  at  Kolobeng,  two 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  275 

hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  to  the  nortli  of  Kuruman,  in 
the  country  of  the  Bechnanas. 

Two  years  after,  in  1849,  Livingstone  left  Kolobeng  with 
his  wife,  his  three  children  and  two  friends,  Messrs.  Oswell 
and  Murray.  August  1st,  of  the  same  year,  he  discovered 
Lake  N'gami,  and  returned  to  Kolobeng,  by  descending  the 
Zouga. 

In  this  journey  Livingstone,  stopped  by  the  bad  will  of  the 
natives,  had  not  passed  beyond  the  X'gami.  A  second  at- 
tempt was  not  more  fortunate.  A  third  must  succeed.  Then, 
taking  a  northern  route,  again  with  his  family  and  Mr.  Os- 
well, after  frightful  suSerings  (for  lack  of  food,  for  lack  of 
water)  that  almost  cost  him  the  lives  of  his  children,  he 
reached  the  country  of  the  Makalodos  beside  the  Chobe,  a 
branch  of  the  Zambezi.  The  chief,  Sebituane,  joined  him 
at  Linyanti.  At  the  end  of  June,  1851,  the  Zambezi  was  dis- 
covered, and  the  doctor  returned  to  the  Cape  to  bring  his 
family  to  England. 

In  fact,  tlie  intrepid  Livingstone  wished  to  be  alone  while 
risking  his  life  in  the  daring  journey  he  was  going  to  under- 
take. 

On  leaving  the  Cape  this  time,  the  question  was  to  cross 
Africa  ol)liquely  from  the  south  to  the  west,  so  as  to  reach 
Saint  Paul  de  Loanda. 

On  the  third  of  June,  1852,  the  doctor  set  out  with  a  few 
natives.  He  arrived  at  Kuruman  and  skirted  ihe  Desert  of 
Kalahari.  The  31st  December  he  entered  Litoubarouba  and 
found  the  country  of  the  Bechnanas  ravaged  by  the  Boers, 
old  Dutch  colonists,  who  were  masters  of  the  Cape  before  the 
English  took  possession  of  it. 

Livinstono  left  Litoubarouba  on  the  15th  of  January,  1853, 
penetrated  to  the  center  of  the  country  of  tiic  Banumgouatos, 
and,  on  May  23d,  he  arrived  at  Linyanti,  where  the  young 
sovereign  of  the  Makalolos,  Sckeletou,  received  him  with  great 
honor. 

Tiierc,  the  doctor  held  liack  by  the  intense  fevers,  devoted 
himself  to  studying  the  manners  of  tlio  country,  and,  for  the 
first  time,  he  could  ascertain  the  ravages  made  by  the  shivc- 
trade  in  Africa. 

One  month  after  he  descended  the  Chobe,  reached  the 
Zambezi,  entered  Xaniele,  visited  Katonga  and  Libonta, 
arrived  at  tlie  connuencc  of  the  Zambezi  and  the  Leeba, 
formed  the  project  of  ascending  by  that  water-course  as  far 


276  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEENT. 

as  the  Portuguese  possessions  of  the  west,  and,  after  nine 
weeks'  absence,  returned  to  Linyanti  to  make  preparations. 

On  the  11th  of  Novejuber,  1858,  tlic  doctor,  accompanied 
by  twenty-seven  Makalolos,  left  Linyanti,  and  on  the  27th 
of  Deceml)er  lie  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Leeba.  This 
water-course  was  ascended  as  far  as  tlie  territory  of  the  Balon- 
das,  there  where  it  receives  tlie  Makondo,  which  comes  from 
the  east.  It  was  the  first  time  that  a  white  man  penetrated 
into  this  region. 

January  14th,  Livingstone  entered  Shinte's  residence.  He 
was  the  most  powerful  sovereign  of  tlie  Balondas.  He  gave 
Livingstone  a  good  reception,  and,  the  20th  of  the  same 
month,  after  crossing  the  Leeba,  he  arrived  at  King  Kate- 
ma's.  There,  again,  a  good  reception,  and  thence  the  depart- 
ure of  the  little  troop  that  on  the  20th  of  February  encamped 
on  the  borders  of  Lake  Dilolo. 

On  setting  out  from  this  point,  a  difificult  country,  exigen- 
cies of  the  natives,  attacks  from  the  tribes,  revolt  of  his  com- 
panions, threats  of  death,  everything  conspired  against  Liv- 
ingtone,  and  a  less  energetic  man  would  have  abandoned  the 
party.  The  doctor  persevered,  and  on  the  4th  of  April,  he 
reached  the  banks  of  the  Coango,  a  large  water-course  which 
forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Portuguese  possessions, 
and  flows  northward  into  the  Zaire. 

Six  days  after,  Livingstone  entered  Cassange,  where  the 
trader  Alvez  had  seen  him  passing  through,  and  on  the  31st 
of  May  he  arrived  at  Saint  Paul  de  Loanda.  For  the  first 
time,  and  after  a  journey  of  two  years,  Africa  had  just  been 
crossed  obliquely  from  the  south  to  the  west. 

David  Livingstone  left  Loanda,  September  24th  of  the 
same  year.  He  skirted  the  right  bank  of  that  Coanza  that 
had  been  so  fatal  to  Dick  Sand  and  his  party,  arrived  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Lombe,  crossing  numerous  caravans  of 
slaves,  passed  by  Cassange  again,  left  it  on  the  20th  of  Feb- 
ruary, crossed  the  Coango,  and  reached  the  Zambezi  at  Ka- 
wawa.  On  the  8th  of  June  he  discovered  Lake  Dilolo  again, 
saw  Shinte  again,  descended  the  Zambezi,  and  re-entered  Lin- 
yanti, which  he  left  on  the  3d  of  Kovember,  1855. 

This  second  part  of  the  journey,  which  would  lead  the 
doctor  toward  the  eastern  coast,  would  enable  him  to  finish 
comi)letely  this  crossing  of  Africa  from  the  west  to  the  east. 

After  having  visited  the  famous  Victoria  Falls,  the  "thun- 
dering foam,"  David  Livingstone  abandoned  the  Zambezi  to 


A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN.  277 

take  a  tiortheastern  direction.  The  passage  across  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Batokas  (natives  who  were  besotted  by  the  inliala- 
tiou  of  hemp),  the  visit  to  Semalembone  (the  jiowerfiil  chief 
of  the  region),  the  crossing  of  the  Kafone.  the  finding  of  the 
Zambezi  again,  the  visit  to  King  ]\Ibourouma,  the  sight  of 
the  ruins  of  Zambo  (an  ancient  Portuguese  city),  the  en- 
counter with  the  Chief  Mjiende  on  the  17th  of  January, 
185G  (then  at  war  with  the  Portuguese),  the  final  arrival  iit 
Tete,  on  the  border  of  the  Zambezi,  on  the  2d  of  !March — 
such  were  the  principal  halting-places  of  this  tour. 

The  22d  of  April  Livingstone  left  that  station,  formerly  a 
rich  one,  descended  as  far  as  the  delta  of  the  river,  and  ar- 
rived at  Quilimane,  at  its  mouth,  on  the  20th  of  May,  four 
years  after  leaving  the  cape.  On  the  12th  of  July  he  em- 
barked for  Maurice,  and  on  the  22d  of  December  he  was  re- 
turning to  England,  after  sixteen  years'  absence. 

The  prize  of  the  Geographical  Society  of  Paris,  the  grand 
medal  of  the  London  Geographical  Society,  and  brilliant  re- 
ceptions greeted  the  illustrious  traveler.  Another  would, 
perhaps,  have  tliought  that  repose  Avas  well  earned.  The 
doctor  did  not  think  so,  and  departed  on  the  1st  of  March, 
1858,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Charles,  Caj)tain  Bedind- 
field,  the  Drs.  Kirk  arid  Meller,  and  b}'  Messrs.  Thornton 
and  Baines.  He  arrived  in  May  on  the  coast  of  Mozambique, 
having  for  an  object  the  exploration  of  the  basin  of  the  Zam- 
bezi. 

All  Avould  not  return  from  this  voyage.  A  little  steamer, 
the  *'  My  liobert,"  enabled  the  explorers  to  ascend  the  great 
river  by  the  Rongone.  They  arrived  at  Tete,  September  the 
8th:  thence  reconuoissance  of  the  lower  course  of  the  Zam- 
bezi and  of  the  Chire,  its  left  branch,  in  January,  1859;  visit 
to  Liike  Chirona  in  April;  exploration  of  the  Maiiganjas'  ter- 
ritorv;  discovery  of  Lake  Nyassa  on  September  Kith;  return 
to  tfie  Victoria  Falls,  August  0th.  1800;  arrival  of  IJislio]) 
Mackensie  and  his  missionaries  at  the  mouth  of  the  ZamlK'zi, 
January  31st,  ]8f;i;  the  exploration  of  the  liovouma,  on  the 
"Pioneer,"'  in  March;  the  return  to  Lake  Nyassa  in  Septem- 
ber, 1801,  and  residence  there  till  the  end  ot  October;  .Janu- 
ary 30th,  1802,  arrival  of  Mrs.  Livingstone  and  a  second 
Rteaiucr,  the  "  I-<Jidy  Nyassa:''  such  were  the  events  that 
marked  the  first  years  of  this  new  expedition.  At  this  time, 
Bishoj)  Mackensie  and  one  of  his  missionaries  liad  aheady 
succumbed  to  the  unliealthfulness  of  the  climate,  and  on  the 


278  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIKTEEN". 

27th  of  April,  Mrs.  Livingstone  died  in  her  husband's  arms. 

In  M;iv,  the  doctor  attempted  a  second  reconnoissanco  of 
the  Rovounia;  then,  at  tiie  end  of  November,  he  entered  the 
Zambezi  again,  and  sailed  up  the  Chire  again.  In  april,  18G3, 
he  lost  his  comjianion,  'Pliornton,  sent  back  to  Europe  liis 
brother  Charles  and  Dr.  Kirk,  avIio  were  both  exhausted  by- 
sickness,  and  November  10th,  for  the  third  time,  ho  saw 
Nyassa,  of  which  he  completed  the  liydrography.  Three 
mouths  after  he  was  again  at  the  mouth  of  the  Zambezi, 
passed  to  Zanzibar,  and  July  20th,  18G4,  after  five  years'  ab- 
sence, he  arrived  in  London,  where  lie  published  his  work 
entitled:  "  Exploration  of   the  Zambezi  and  its  Branches." 

January  28th,  18G(3,  Livingstone  landed  again  at  Zanzibar, 
lie  was  beginning  his  fourth  voyage. 

August  8th,  after  having  witnessed  the  horrible  scenes  pro- 
voked by  the  slave-trade  in  that  country,  the  doctor,  taking 
this  time  only  a  few  a'payes  and  a  few  negroes,  found  him- 
self again  at  Mokalaoso,  ou  tiie  banks  of  the  Nyassa.  Six 
weeks  later,  the  majority  of  the  men  forming  the  escort  took 
flight,  returned  to  Zanzibar,  and  there  falsely  spread  the  re- 
port of  Livingstone's  death. 

He,  however,  did  not  draw  back.  He  wished  to  visit  the 
country  comprised  between  the  Nyassa  and  Lake  Tanganyika. 
December  lOfch,  guided  by  some  natives,  he  traversed  the  Loan- 
goua  river,  and  April  2d,  18G7,  he  discov  ered  Lake  Liemmba. 
Tiiero  he  remiined  a  month  betweeen  life  and  death.  Hardly 
well  again,  August  30th  he  reached  Lake  Moero,  of  whicli  he 
visited  the  northern  sliore,  and  November  21st  he  entered  the 
town  of  Cayembe,  wliere  he  lived  forty  days,  during  which 
he  twice  renewed  his  exploration  of  Lake   Moero. 

From  Cayembe  Livingstone  took  a  northern  direction,  with 
the  design  of  reaching  th3  important  town  of  Oujiji,  on  the 
Tanganyika.  Surprised  by  the  rising  of  the  waters,  and 
abandoned  by  his  guides,  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  Cay- 
erabe.  He  re-descended  to  the  soutli  June  Gth,  and  six 
weeks  after  gained  the  great  lake  Bangoneolo.  He  remained 
there  till  August  9th,  and  then  sought  to  re-ascend  toward 
Lak3  Tanganyika. 

What  a  journey!  On  setting  out,  January  7th,  1869,  the 
heroic  doctor's  feebleness  was  such  tliat  he  had  to  be  carried. 
In  February  he  at  last  reached  the  lake  and  arrived  at  Oujiji, 
where  he  found  some  articles  sent  to  his  addi'css  by  the  Ori- 
ental Company  of  Calcutta. 


A   CAPTAIN"    AT   FIFTEEN.  279 

Livingstone  then  had  but  one  idea,  to  gain  the  sources  or 
the  yalley  of  the  Nile  by  ascending  the  Tanganyika.  Sep- 
tember 21st  lie  was  at  Bambavre,  in  the  ^Manonyema,  a  can- 
nibal country,  and  arrived  at  the  Loualaba — that  Loualaba 
that  Cameron  was  going  to  suspect,  and  Stanley  to  discover, 
to  be  only  the  upper  Zaire,  or  Congo.  At  Mamohela  the 
doctor  was  sick  for  eighty  days.  He  had  only  three  servants. 
July  21st,  1871,  he  departed  again  for  the  Tanganyika,  and 
only  re-entered  Oujiji  October  23d.  He  was  then  a  mere  skele- 
ton. 

Meanwhile,  before  this  period,  people  had  been  a  longtime 
without  news  of  the  traveler.  In  Europe  they  believed  him 
to  be  dead.  He  himself  had  almost  lost  hope  of  being  ever 
relieved. 

Eleven  days  after  his  entrance  into  Oujiji  shots  were  heard 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the   lake.     The  docter  arrives.     A 
man,  a  white  man,  is  before  him. 
"Doctor  Livingstone,  I  presume?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  latter,  raising  his  cap,  with  a  friendly 
smile. 

Their  hands  were  warmly  clasped. 

"  I  thank  God,"  continued  the  white  man,  "  that  He  has 
permitted  me  to  meet  you." 

"  I  am  happy,"  said  Livingstone,  ''to  be  here  to  receive 
you." 

The  white  man  was  the  American  Stanley,  a  reporter  of  the 
New  York  Herald,  whom  Mr.  Bennett,  the  proprietor  of  that 
journal,  had  just  sent  to  find  David  Livingstone. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1870,  this  American,  without 
hesitation,  without  a  word,  simply  as  a  hero,  had  embarked 
at  Bombay  for  Zanzibar,  and  almost  following  Spcke  and 
Burton's  route,  after  untold  sufferings,  his  life  being  menaced 
several  times,  he  arrived  at  Oujiji. 

The  two  travelers,  now  become  fast  friends,  then  made  an 
expedition  to  the  north  of  Lake  Tanganyika.  They  em- 
barked, pushed  as  far  as  Cape  Malaya,  and  aflcr  a  minute 
exploration,  were  of  the  oj)inion  that  the  great  lake  had  for 
an  outlet  a  branch  of  the  lioualaba.  It  was  what  Cameron 
and  Stanley  iiimsclf  were  going  to  determine  ])ositively  some 
years  after.  December  12tii,  Livingstone  and  his  companion 
were  returning  to  Oujiji. 

Stanley  prepared  to  depart.     December  27tli,  af  tir  a  naviga- 


280  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN. 

tion  of  eight  days,  tlic  doctor  and  he  arrived  at  Ousimba; 
then,  February  23d,  they  entered  Kouihara. 
March  12th  was  the  day  of  partitig. 

'•  You  have  acconi})lished,"  said  the  doctor  to  his  com- 
panion, "  what  few  men  would  have  done,  and  done  it  mncli 
better  than  certain  great  travelers,  lam  very  grateful  to  you 
for  it.  May  God  lead  you,  my  friend,  and  may  He  blets 
you!" 

"  May  He."  said  Stanley,  taking  Livingstone's  hand,  ''bring 
you  back  to  us  safe  and  sound,  dear  doctor!'' 

Stanley  drew  back  quickly  from  tliis  embrace,  and  turned  so 
as  to  conceal  his  tears.  "  Good-bye,  doctor,  dear  friend,"  he 
said  in  a  stifled  voice. 

"  Good-bye,"  replied  Livingstone,  feebly. 
Stanley  dt};artcd,  and  July  12th,  1872,  he  lr,nded  at  Mar- 
seilles. 

Livingstone  was  going  to  return  to  his  discoveries.  Au- 
gust 25th,  after  five  months  passed  at  Konihara,  accompanied 
by  his  black  servants,  Souzi,  C'houma,  and  Amoda,  by  two 
olher  servants,  by  Jacob  Wainwright,  and  by  fifty-six  men 
sent  by  Stanley,  he  wenftoward  the  soutli  of  the  Tanganyika. 
A  month  after,  th.e  caravan  arrived  at  M'oura,  in  the  midst 
of  storms,  caused  by  an  extreme  drought.  Then  came  the 
rains,  the  bad  will  of  the  natives,  and  the  loss  of  the  beasts  of 
burden,  from  falling  under  the  stings  of  the  tsetse.  January 
24th,  1873,  the  little  troop  was  at  Ttliitounkone.  April  27th, 
after  having  left  Lake  Bangoneolo  to  the  east,  the  troop  was 
going  toward  the  village  of  Tchitambo. 

At  that  place  fome  traders  had  left  Livingstone.  This  is 
what  Alvcz  and  his  colleague  liad  learned  from  them.  They 
had  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  doctor,  after  exploring 
the  south  of  the  lake,  would  venture  across  the  Loanda,  and 
come  to  seek  unknown  countries  in  the  west.  Thence  he 
was  to  ascend  toward  Angola,  to  visit  tliose  regions  infested 
by  the  slave-trade,  to  push  as  far  as  Kazounde;  the  tour 
seemed  to  be  all  marked  out,  and  it  was  very  probable  that 
Livingstone  would  follow  it. 

Mrs.  Weldon  then  could  count  on  the  aproaching  arrival 
of  the  great  traveler,  because,  in  the  beginning  of  June,  it 
was  already  more  than  two  monllis  since  he  had  reached  the 
south  of  Lake  Bangoneolo. 

!Now,  June  13th,  the  day  before  that  on  which  Kegoro  would 
come  to  claim  from  Mrs.  AVeldon  the  letter  that  would  put 


A   CAPTAIX  AT  FIFTEEN.  281 

one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  his  hands,  sad  news  was 
spread,  at  whicli  Ahez  and  the  traders  only  rejoiced. 

May  1st,  1873.  at  dawn.  Dr.  David  Livingstone  died.  In 
fact,  on  April  29th,  the  little  caravan  had  reached  the  village 
of  Tchitambo,  to  the  south  of  the  lake.  The  doctor  was  car- 
ried there  on  a  litter.  On  the  30th,  in  the  night,  nnder  the 
influence  of  excessive  grief,  he  moaned  out  this  complaint, 
that  was  hardly  heard:  "Oh,  dear!  dear!*'  and  he  fell  back 
from  drowsiness. 

At  the  end  of  an  hour  he  called  his  servant,  Souzi,  asking 
for  some  medicine,  then  murmuring  in  a  feeble  voice:  "It 
is  well.     Kow  you  can  go.'' 

Toward  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Souzi  and  five  men 
of  the  escort  entered  the  doctors  hut.  David  Livingstone, 
kneeling  near  his  bed,  his  head  resting  on  his  hands,  seemed 
to  be  engaged  in  prayer.  Souzi  gently  touched  his  cheek;  it 
was  cold.     David  Livingstone  was  no  more. 

Kine  months  after,  his  body,  carried  by  faithful  servants 

at  the  price  of  unheard  of  fatigues,  arrived  at  Zanzibar.     On 

April  12th,  1874,  it  was  buried  in  "Westminster  Abbey,  among 

those  of  her  great  men,  whom  England  honors  equally  with 

her  kings. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

WHERE   A   MAXTICORE   MAY   LEAD. 

To  what  plank  of  safety  will  not  an  unfortunate  being 
cling?  "Will  not  the  eyes  of  the  condemned  seek  to  seize  any 
ray  of  hope,  no  matter  how  vague? 

So  it  liad  been  with  Mrs.  Weldon,  One  can  understand 
what  she  must  have  felt  when  sbe  learned,  from  Alvez  him- 
self, that  Dr.  Livingstone  had  just  died  in  a  little  JJangoueolo 
village. 

It  seemed  to  Iicr  that  she  was  more  isolated  tlum  ever;  that 
a  sort  of  bond  that  attached  her  to  the  traveler,  and  wiih  him 
to  the  civilized  world,  had  just  been  broken. 

The  plank  of  safety  sank  under  her  hand,  the  ray  (tf  hoj)C 
went  out  before  here\es.  Tom  and  his  cotnpanions  had  left 
Kazounde  for  the  lake  region.     !Not  the  least  news  of  Her- 


283  A   CAPTAIN    AT  FIFTEEN. 

culos.  !Mrs.  AVcldon  was  not  sure  of  any  one.  She  muefc 
then  fall  back  on  Xcgoro's  iiroposition,  while  trying  to  amend 
it  and  secure  a  definite  result  from  it. 

June  l-4th,  the  day  lixed  by  him,  Negoro  presented  himself 
at  Mrs.  AVeldon's  hut. 

The  Portuguese  was,  as  always,  so  he  said,  perfectly  prac- 
lioal.  However,  he  abated  nothing  from  the  amount  of  the 
ransom,  which  his  prisoner  did  not  even  discuss.  But  Mrs. 
"Weldon  also  showed  herself  very  practical  in  saying  to  him: 

"  If  you  wish  to  make  an  agreement,  do  not  render  it  im- 
possible by  unacceptable  conditions.  The  exchange  of  our 
liberty  for  the  sum  you  exact  may  take  place,  without  my 
husband  coming  into  a  country  where  you  see  what  can  be 
done  with  a  white  man!  Now,  1  do  not  wish  him  to  come 
here  at  any  pi-ice!" 

After  some  hesitation  Negoro  yielded,  and  Mrs.  "Weldon 
finished  with  the  concession  that  James  Weldon  should  not 
venture  as  far  as  Kazounde.  A  ship  would  land  him  at  Mossa- 
medes,  a  little  port  to  the  south  "of  Angola,  ordinarily  fre- 
quented by  slave-ships,  and  well  known  by  Negoro.  It  was 
there  that  the  Portuguese  would  conduct  James  W.  Weldon; 
and  at  a  certain  time  Alvez's  agent  would  bring  thither  Mrs. 
AVeldon,  Jack,  and  Cousin  Benedict.  The  ransom  would  be 
given  to  those  agents  on  the  giving  up  of  the  prisoners,  and 
Negoro,  who  would  play  the  part  of  a  perfectly  honest  man 
with  James  Weldon,  would  disappear  on  the  ship's  arrival. 

Mrs.  Weldon  had  gained  a  very  important  point.  She 
spared  her  husband  the  dangers  of  a  voyage  to  Kazounde,  the 
risk  of  being  kept  there,  after  paying  the  exacted  ransom, 
and  the  perils  of  the  return.  As  to  the  six  hundred  miles 
that  separated  Kazounde  from  Mossamedes,  by  going  over 
them  as  she  had  traveled  on  leaving  the  Coanza,  Mrs.  Wel- 
don would  only  have  a  little  fatigue  to  fear.  Besides,  it 
would  be  to  Alvez's  interest — for  he  was  in  the  affair — for  the 
prisoners  to  arrive  safe  and  sound. 

The  conditions  being  thus  settled,  Mrs.  Weldon  wrote  to 
her  husband,  leaving  to  Ncgoro  the  care  of  passing  himself 
olf  as  a  devoted  servant,  who  had  escaped  from  the  natives. 
Negoro  took  the  letter,  which  did  not  allow  James  Weldon 
to  hesitate  about  following  him  as  far  as  Mossamedes,  and, 
the  next  day,  escorted  by  twenty  blacks,  he  traveled  toward 
the  north. 

Why  did*  he  take  that  direction?     Was  it,  then,  Negoro's 


'a    IIEXAIMiIjK,"  KXII.Al.Ml.I)    riiC    IN    IIKNKDKT,       S,e  [.il^Jv    -JKti. 


A  CAPTAI3T  AT   FIFTEEN.  283 

intention  to  embark  on  one  of  the  vessels  which  frequent  the 
months  of  the  Congo,  and  thus  avoid  tlie  Portuguese  sta- 
tions, as  well  as  the  penitentiaries  in  which  he  had  been  an 
involuntary  guest?  It  was  probable.  At  least,  that  was  the 
reason  he  gave  Alvez. 

After  his  departure,  Mrs.  Weldon  must  try  to  arrange  her 
existence  in  such  a  manner  as  to  ])ass  the  time  of  her  sojourn 
at  Kazounde  as  happily  as  possible.  Under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances,  it  would  last  three  or  four  months.  Xe- 
goro's  going  and  returning  would  require  at  least  that  time. 

]\Irs.  Weldon's  intention  was,  not  to  leave  the  factory.  Her 
child.  Cousin  Benedict,  and  she,  were  comparatively  safe 
there.  Halima's  good  care  softened  the  severity  of  this  se- 
questration a  little.  Besides,  it  was  probable  that  tlie  trader 
would  not  permit  her  to  leave  the  establishment.  The  great 
premium  that  the  prisoner's  ransom  would  procure  him, 
made  it  well  worth  while  to  guard  her  carefully. 

It  was  even  fortunate  that  Alvez  was  not  obliged  to  leave 
Kazounde  to  visit  his  two  other  factories  of  Bihe  and  Cas- 
sange.  Coimbra  was  going  to  take  his  place  in  the  expedi- 
tion on  new  razzias  or  raids.  There  was  no  motive  for  re- 
gretting the  presence  of  that  drunkard. 

AV)ove  all,  Xegoro.  before  setting  out,  had  given  Alvez  the 
most  urgent  commands  in  regard  to  Mrs.  Weldon.  It  was 
necessary  to  watch  her  closely.  They  did  not  know  what 
had  become  of  Ilcroules.  If  he  had  not  perished  in  that 
dreadful  province  of  Kazounde,  perhaps  he  would  attempt  to 
get  near  the  prisoner  and  snatch  her  from  Alvez's  hands. 
The  trader  perfectly  understood  a  situation  which  ciphered 
itself  out  by  a  good  number  of  dollars.  He  Avould  answer 
for  Mrs.  Weldon  as  for  liis  own  body. 

So  tlie  monotonous  life  of  the  "^prisoner  during  the  first 
days  after  her  arrival  at  the  factory,  was  continued.  AVhat 
passed  in  this  enclosure  reproduced  very  exactly  the  various 
acts  of  native  existence  outside.  Alvez  lived  like  the  other 
natives  of  Kazounde.  The  women  of  the  establishment 
worked  as  tlioy  would  have  done  in  the  town,  for  the  greater 
comfort  of  their  husbands  or  their  masters.  Their  occupa- 
tions included  i)rej)aring  rice  with  lieavy  blows  of  the  ])esllo 
in  wooden  mortars,  to  })erfect  d(,'cort  iealion;  cleansing  and 
winnowing  maize,  and  all  the  nianiijulations  necessary  to 
draw  from  it  a  granulous  substance  which  servos  to  coinjiose 
that  potage  called  "mtyellc"  in  the  country;    the  harvesting 


284  A  CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN^. 

of  tlio  aorgho,  a  kiiul  of  liirgo  millet,  the  ripening  of  wliicli 
had  jiust  been  solemnl}-  celebnifod  at  this  time;  tlie  extrac- 
lion  of  that  fragrant  oil  from  the  "mpafon"  drupes,  kinds 
of  olives,  the  essence  of  which  forms  a  perfume  sought  for  by 
the  natives;  spinning  of  the  cotton,  the  fibres  of  wJiich  are 
twisted  by  means  of  a  spindle  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  to  which 
the  sjMnners  impart  a  ra])id  rotation;  the  fabrication  of  bark 
stulTs  with  the  mallet;  the  extraction  from  the  tapioca  roots, 
and  the  ])re}\aration  of  the  earth  for  the  different  products  of 
the  country,  cassava,  ilour  that  they  make  from  the  manioc 
beans,  of  which  the  pods,  fifteen  inches  long,  named  "  mosit- 
sanes,"  grow  on  trees  twenty  feet  high;  arachides  intended  to 
make  oil.  perennial  peas  of  a  bright  blue,  known  under  the 
name  of  "tchilobes,"  the  flowers  of  which  relieve  the  slightly 
insipid  taste  of  the  milk  of  sorgho;  native  coffee,  sugar  canes, 
the  juice  of  which  is  reduced  to  a  syrup;  onions,  Indian  pears, 
scsamum,  cucumbers,  the  seeds  of  which  are  roasted  like 
chestnuts;  the  preparation  of  fermented  drinks,  the  "malo- 
fori,"  made  Avith  bananas,  the  "jiombc"  and  other  liquors; 
the  care  of  the  domestic  animals,  of  those  cows  that  only 
allow  themselves  to  be  milked  in  the  presence  of  their  little 
one  or  of  a  stuffed  calf;  of  those  heifers  of  small  race,  with 
short  horns,  some  of  which  have  a  hump;  of  those  goats 
which,  in  the  country  where  their  flesh  serves  for  food,  arc 
an  important  object  of  exchange,  one  might  say  current 
money  like  the  slave;  finally,  the  feeding  of  the  birds,  swine, 
sheep,  oxen,  and  so  forth. 

This  long  enumeration  shows  what  rude  labors  fall  on  the 
feeble  sex  in  those  savage  regions  of  the  African  continent. 

During  this  time  the  men  smoke  tobacco  or  hemp,  chase 
the  elephant  or  the  buffalo,  and  hire  themselves  to  the  traders 
for  the  raids.  The  harvest  of  maize  or  of  slaves  is  always  a 
harvest  that  takes  place  in  fixed  seasons. 

Of  those  various  occupations,  Mrs.  Weldon  only  saw  in 
Alvez's  factory  the  part  laid  on  the  women.  Sometimes  she 
stopped,  looking  at  them,  while  the  slaves,  it  must  be  said, 
only  replied  to  her  by  ugly  grimaces.  A  race  instinct  led 
these  unfortunates  to  hate  a  white  woman,  and  they  had  no 
commiseration  for  her  in  their  hearts.  Halima  alone  was  an 
exception,  and  Mrs.  Weldon,  having  learned  certain  words  of 
the  native  language,  was  soon  able  to  exchange  a  few  sentences 
with  the  young  slave. 

Little  Jack  often  accompanied  his  mother  when  she  walked 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  285 

in  the  enclosure;  but  he  wished  very  much  to  go  outside. 
There  was,  however,  in  an  enormous  baobab,  marabout  nests, 
formed  of  a  few  sticks,  and  "souimangas"  nests,  birds  with 
scarlet  breasts  and  throats,  which  resemble  those  of  the 
tissirms;  then  "  widows,"  that  strip  the  thatch  for  the  bene- 
fit of  tlieir  family;  "calaos,"  whose  song  was  agreeable; 
bright  gray  parrots  with  red  tails,  which,  in  the  Manyema, 
are  called  ''*  rouss,"  and  give  their  name  to,the  chiefs  of  the 
tribes;  insectivorous  ''  drougos,"  similar  to  gray  linnets,  with 
large,  red  beiiks.  Here  and  there  also  fluttered  hundreds  of 
butterflies  of  different  species,  especially  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  brooks  that  crossed  the  factory;  but  that  was  rather 
Cousin  Benedict's  affair  than  little  ^Jack's,  and  the  latter 
regretted  greatly  not  being  taller,  so  as  to  look  over  the  wallsl 
Alas!  where  was  his  poor  friend,  Dick  Sand — he  who  had 
brought  him  so  high  up  in  the  ''  Pilgrim's"  masts?  How  he 
would  have  followed  him  on  the  branches  of  those  trees, 
whose  tops  rose  to  more  than  a  hundred  feet!  AVhat  good 
times  they  would  have  had  togetlier! 

Cousin  Benedict  always  found  himself  very  well  where  he 
was,  provided  insects  were  not  lacking.  Happily,  he  had  dis- 
covered in  the  factory — and  he  studied  as  much  as  he  could 
without  magnifying  glass  or  spectacles — a  small  bee  which 
forms  its  cells  among  the  worm-holes  of  the  wood,  and  a 
"  sphex  "  that  lays  its^eggs  in  cells  that  are  not  its  own,  as  the 
cuckoo  in  the  nest  of  other  birds.  Mosquitoes  were  not  lack- 
ing either,  on  the  banks  of  the  rivulets,  and  they  tattooed  him 
with  bites  to  the  extent  of  making  him  unrecognizable.  And 
when  Mrs.  Weldon  reproached  him  with  letting  himself  be 
thus  devoured  by  those  venomous  insects:  "  It  is  their  in- 
stinct, Cousin  Weldon,"  he  replied  to  her,  scratching  himself 
till  the  blood  came;  "it  is  their  instinct,  and  we  must  not 
have  a  grudge  against  them!" 

At  last,  one  day— it  was  the  17th  of  June — Cousin  Bene- 
dict was  on  the  i)oint  of  being  the  happiest  of  entomologists. 
But  this  adventure,  which  had  unexpected  consequences, 
reeds  to  1x5  relatofl  with  some  minuteness. 

It  was  about  eleven  o'cloek  in  the  morning.  An  ovei-]">ow- 
ering  heat  hud  obliged  the  inhabitants  of  the  factory  to  keep 
in  their  huts,  and  one  would  not  even  meet  a  single  native  in 
the  streets  of  Kazounde. 

Mrs.  Weldon  was  dozing  near  little  .Tack,  who  was  sleojiing 
soundly.     Cousin  Benedict,  himself,  suffering  from  the  inllu- 


1886  A   CAPTAIN"   AT  FIFTEEN". 

ence  of  tins  tropical  temperature,  had  given  up  his  favorite 
hunts,  which  was  a  great  sacrifice  for  him,  for,  in  those  rays 
of  the  mid-day  sun,  he  heard  the  rustle  of  a  whole  world  of 
insects,  lie  was  sheltered,  then,  at  tlie  end  of  his  hut,  and 
there,  sleep  began  to  take  possession  of  him  in  this  involun- 
tary siesta. 

Suddenly,  as  his  eyes  half  closed,  he  heard  a  liumming; 
this  is  one  of  those  insupportable  buzzings  of  msects,  some  of 
which  can  give  tifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  beats  of  their 
wings  in  a  second. 

"Ahexapode!"  exclaimed  Cousin  Benedict,  awakened  at 
once,  and  passing  from  the  horizontal  to  the  vertical  position. 

There  was  no  doubt  that  it  Avas  a  hexapode  that  was  buzz- 
ing in  his  hut.  But,  if  Cousin  Benedict  was  very  near- 
siglited,  he  had  at  least  very  acute  hearing,  so  acute  even  that 
he  could  recognize  one  insect  from  another  by  the  intensity  of 
its  buzz,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  this  one  was  unknown, 
though  it  could  only  be  produced  by  a  giant  of  the  species. 

*•  Wiiat  is  this  hexapode?"  Cousin  Benedict  asked  himself. 

Behold  him,  seeking  to  perceive  the  insect,  which  was  very 
difficult  to  his  eyes  without  glasses,  but  trying  above  all  to 
recognize  it  by  the  buzzing  of  its  wings. 

Ilis  instinct  as  an  entomologist  warned  him  that  he  had 
something  to  accomplisii,  and  that  the  insect,  so  providen- 
tially entered  into  his  hut,  ought  not  to  be  the  first  comer. 

Cousin  Benedict  no  longer  moved.  He  listened.  A  few 
rays  of  light  reached  him.  His  eyes  then  discovered  a  largo 
black  point  that  flew  about,  but  did  not  pass  near  enough  for 
him  to  recognize  it.  He  held  his  breath,  and  if  he  felt  him- 
self stung  in  some  part  of  the  face  or  hands,  he  was  deter- 
mined not  to  make  a  single  movement  that  might  put  his 
hexapode  to  flight. 

At  last  the  buzzing  insect,  after  turning  around  him  for  a 
long  time,  came  to  rest  on  his  head.  Cousin  Benedict's 
mouth  widened  for  an  instant,  as  if  to  give  a  smile — and 
what  a  smile!  He  felt  the  light  animal  running  on  his  hair. 
An  irresistible  desire  to  put  his  hand  there  seized  him  for  a 
moment;  but  he  resisted  it,  and  did  well. 

"  Xo,  nol"  thought  he,  ''I  would  miss  it,  or,  what  would 
be  worse,  I  would  injure  it.  Let  it  come  more  within  my 
reach.  See  it  walkingi  It  descends.  I  feel  its  dear  little 
feet  running  on  my  skull!  This  must  be  a  hexapode  of  great 
height.     My  God!  only  grant  that  it  may  descend  on  the  end 


A   CAPTAIN    AT  FIFTEEN.  287 

of  my  nose,  and  there,  by  squinting  a  little,  I  might  perhaps 
see  it,'^  and  determine  to  what  order,  genus,  species,  or  variety 
it  belongs." 

So  thought  Cousin  Benedict.  But  it  was  a  long  distance 
from  his  skull,  which  was  rather  pointed,  to  the  end  of  his 
nose,  which  was  very  long.  How  many  other  roads  the  ca- 
pricious insect  might  take,  beside  his  ears,  beside  his  fore- 
liead — roads  that  would  take  it  to  a  distance  from  the  savant's 
eves — without  counting  that  at  any  moment  it  might  retake 
its  flight,  leave  the  hut,  and  lose  itself  in  those  solar  rays 
where,  doubtless,  its  life  was  passed,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
buzzing  of  its  congeners  that  would  attract  it  outside! 

Cousin  Benedict  said  all  that  to  liimself.  Never,  in  all  his 
life  as  an  entomologist,  had  he  passed  more  touching  minutes. 
An  African  hexapode,  of  a  new  species,  or,  at  least,  of  a  new 
variety,  or  even  of  a  new  sub-variety,  was  there  on  his  head, 
and  he  could  not  recognize  it  except  it  deigned  to  walk  at 
least  an  inch  from  his  CN'es. 

However,  Cousin  Benedict's  prayer  must  be  heard.  The 
insect,  after  having  traveled  over  the  half-bald  head,  as  on 
the  summit  of  some  wild  busli,  began  to  descend  Cousin  Ben- 
edict's forehead,  and  the  latter  might  at  last  conceive  the 
hope  that  it  would  venture  to  tlie  top  of  his  nose.  Once  ar- 
rived at  tiiat  top,  wliv  would  it  not  descend  to  the  base? 

"In  its  place,  I — I  would  descend,"  thought  the  worthy 
savant. 

What  is  truer  than  that,  in  Cousin  Benedict's  place,  any- 
other  would  have  struck  his  forehead  violently,  so  as  to  crush 
the  enticing  insect,  or  at  least  to  put  it  to  flight.  To  feel  six 
feet  moving  on  iiis  skin,  without  speaking  of  the  fear  of  being 
bitten,  and  not  make  a  gesture,  one  will  agree  that  it  was  the 
height  of  heroism.  The  Spartan  allowing  his  breast  to  be  de- 
voured by  a  fox;  the  Roman  holding  burning  coals  between 
his  fingers,  were  not  more  masters  of  themselves  than  Cousin 
iiencdict,  wiio  was  undoubtedly  descended  from  those  two 
heroes. 

After  twenty  little  circuits,  the  insect  arrived  at  the  top  of 
the  nose.  Then  there  was  a  moment's  hesitation  tliat  made 
all  Cousin  Benedict's  blood  rush  (o  his  heart.  Would  the 
hexapode  ascr-nd  again  beyond  the  line  of  the  eyes,  or  would 
it  descend  below? 

It  descended.  Cousin  Benedict  felt  its  caterpillar  feet  com- 
ing toward  the  bjisc  of  his  n(»se.     The  insect  turned  neitlier 


288  A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

to  the  riglit  nor  to  the  left.  It  rested  between  its  two  buzzing 
winirs,  on  the  sli^^litly  hooked  edge  of  that  learned  nose,  so 
well  fornu'd  to  carry  spectacles.  It  cleared  the  little  furrow 
j)roduced  by  the  incessant  use  of  that  optical  instrument,  so 
much  missc'd  by  the  poor  cousin,  and  it  stopped  just  at  the 
extremity  of  his  nasal  a]>pendage. 

It  was  tlie  best  place  this  hexapode  could  choose.  At  that 
distance,  Cousin  lienedict's  two  eyes,  by  making  their  visual 
rays  converge,  could,  like  two  lens,  dart  their  double  look  on 
the  insect. 

"Almighty  God!"  exclaimed  Cousin  Benedict,  who  could 
not  repress  a  cry,  "  the  tuberculous  wanticore." 

Now,  he  must  not  cry  it  out,  he  must  only  think  it.  But 
Avas  it  not  too  much  to  ask  from  the  most  enthusiastic  of  en- 
tomologists? 

To  have  on  the  end  of  his  nose  a  tuberculous  manticore, 
with  large  elytrums — an  insect  of  the  cicendeletes  tribe — a 
very  rare  specimen  in  collections — one  that  seems  peculiar  to 
those  southern  parts  of  Africa,  and  yet  not  utter  a  cry  of  ad- 
miration; that  is  beyond  human  strength. 

Unfortunately  the  manticore  heard  this  cry,  which  was  al- 
most immediately  followed  by  a  sneeze,  that  shook  the  ap- 
pendage on  which  it  rested.  Cousin  lienedict  wished  to  take 
possession  of  it,  extended  his  hand,  shut  it  violently,  and 
only  succeeded  in  seizing  the  end  of  his  own  nose. 

'*  Malediction!"  exclaimed  he.  But  then  he  showed  a  re- 
markable coolness. 

He  knew  that  the  tuberculous  manticore  only  flutters 
about,  so  to  say,  that  it  walks  rather  than  flies.  He  then 
knelt,  and  succeeded  m  i)erceiving,  at  less  than  ten  inches 
from  his  eyes,  the  black  point  that  was  gliding  rapidly  in  a 
ray  of  light. 

Evidently  it  was  better  to  study  it  in  this  independent  atti- 
tude.    Only  he  must  not  lose  sight  of  it. 

"To  seize  the  manticore  w^ould  be  to  risk  crushing  it," 
Cousin  Benedict  said  to  himself.  "No;  I  shall  follow  it!  I 
Ehall  admire  it!  I  have  time  enough  to  take  it!" 

Was  Cousin  Benedict  wrong?  However  that  may  be,  see 
liim  now  on  all  fours,  his  nose  to  the  ground  like  a  dog  that 
smells  ascent,  and  following  seven  or  eight  inches  behind  the 
superb  hexaiK)de.  One  moment  after  he  was  outside  his  hut, 
under  the  mid-day  sun,  and  a  few  minutes  later  at  the  foot  of 
the  palisade  that  shut  in  Alvez's  establishment. 


A   CAPTAIN  AT  FIFTEEl?'.  289 

At  this  place  was  the  mantieore  going  to  clear  the  enclosure 
■with  a  bound,  and  put  a  wall  between  its  adorer  and  itself? 
Ko,  that  was  not  in  its  nature,  and  Cousin  Benedict  knew  it 
well.  So  he  was  always  there,  crawling  like  a  snake,  too  far 
off  to  recognize  the  insect  entomologieally — besides,  that  was 
done — but  near  enough  to  perceire  that  large,  moving  point 
traveling  over  the  gi-ound. 

The  7naiiticore,  arrived  near  the  palisade,  had  met  the  large 
entrance  of  a  mole-hill  that  opened  at  the  foot  of  the  en- 
closure. There,  without  hesitating,  it  entered  this  subter- 
ranean gallery,  for  it  is  in  the  habit  of  seeking  those  obscure 
passages.  Cousin  Benedict  believed  that  he  Avas  going  to 
lose  sight  of  it.  But.  to  his  great  surprise,  the  passage  was 
at  least  two  feet  hisrh,  and  the  mole-hill  formed  a  gallery 
where  his  long,  thin  body  could  enter.  Besides,  he  put  tlie 
ardor  of  a  ferret  into  this  pursuit,  and  did  not  even  perceive 
that  in  "  earthing  "  himself  thus,  he  was  passing  outside  the 
palisade. 

In  fact,  the  mole-hill  established  a  natural  communication 
betAveen  the  inside  and  tlie  outside.  In  half  a  minute  Cousin 
Benedict  Avas  outside  of  the  factory.  That  did  not  trouble 
him.  lie  A\-as  absorbed  in  admiration  of  the  elegant  insect 
that  was  leading  him  on.  But  the  latter,  doubtless,  had 
enough  of  this  long  walk.  Its  elytrums  turned  aside,  its 
Avings  sjjread  out.  Cousin  Benedict  felt  the  danger,  and, 
Avfth  his  cuned  hand,  he  Avas  going  to  make  a  ])rovisional 
])rison  for  the  mantieore,  Avhen — f-r-r-r-rl — it  flcAV  aAvay! 

"What  despair!  But  the  mantieore  could  not  go  far.  Cou.^in 
Benedict  rose;  he  looked,  he  darted  forward,  his  tAvo  liands 
stretched  out  and  open.  The  insect  flew  above  his  head,  and 
he  only  perceived  a  large  black  point,  Avithout  appreciable 
form  to  iiim. 

Would  the  mantieore  come  to  the  ground  again  to  rest, 
after  having  traced  a  few  capricious  circles  around  Cousin 
licnedict's  bald  head?  All  the  ])robabilitie8  Averc  in  favor  of 
its  doing  so. 

Unfortunately  for  the  unhappy  savant,  this  ])art  of  Alvoz's 
establishment,  which  was  situated  at  the  norlhcin  cxtri'mily 
of  the  town,  bordered  on  a  vast  forest,  Avhich  covered  the  ter- 
ritory of  Kazonnde  for  a  space  of  several  s(|iiai(!  miles.  If  th(! 
mnutieoro  gained  the  cover  of  the  trees,  and  if  there,  it  slmnM 
lliitler  from  branch  to  branch,  he  must  renounce  all   hope  (»f 


290  A  CArTAiTsr  at  fifteen. 

inakinc:  it  figure  in  that  famous  tin-box,  in  which  it  would  be 
tiic  most  precious  jewel. 

Alas!  tliat  was  what  happened.  The  mnnticore  had  rested 
again  on  the  ground.  Cousin  Benedict,  having  the  unex- 
pected hope  of  seeing  it  again,  threw  himself  on  the  ground 
at  once.  But  the  manticore  no  longer  walked:  it  proceeded 
by  little  jumps. 

Cousin  Benedict,  exhausted,  his  knees  and  hands  bleeding, 
jumped  also.  Ilis  two  arms,  his  hands  open,  were  extended 
to  the  right,  to  the  left,  according  as  the  bhick  point  bounded 
here  or  tlicre.  It  might  be  said  that  he  was  drawing  his 
body  over  that  burning  soil,  as  a  swimmer  does  on  the  surface 
of  the  water. 

Useless  trouble!  His  two  hands  always  closed  on  nothing. 
The  insect  escaped  him  while  playing  with  him,  and  soon, 
arrived  under  the  fresli  branches,  it  arose,  after  throwing  into 
Cousin  Benedict's  ear,  which  it  touched  lightly,  the  most  in- 
tense but  also  the  most  ironical  buzzing  of  its  coleopter  wings. 

"Malediction!"  exclaimed  Cousin  Benedict,  a  second  time. 
*•  It  escapes  me.  Ungrateful  hexapode!  Thou  to  whom  I 
reserved  a  place  of  honor  in  my  collection!  Well,  no,  I  shall 
not  give  thee  up!     I  siiall  follow  thee  till  I  reach  thee!" 

He  forgot,  this  discomfited  cousin,  that  his  near-sighted 
eyes  would  not  enable  him  to  perceive  the  manticore  among 
the  foliage.  But  he  was  no  longer  master  of  himself.  Vexa- 
tion, anger,  made  him  a  fool.  It  Avas  himself,  and  only  him- 
self, that  he  must  blame  for  his  loss.  If  he  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  insect  at  first,  instead  of  following  it  "in  its  inde- 
pendent ways,"  nothing  of  all  that  would  have  happened,  and 
he  would  possess  that  admirable  P[>ecimen  of  African  ma7iti- 
core^,  the  name  of  which  is  that  of  a  fabulous  animal,  having 
a  man's  head  and  a  lion's  body. 

Cousin  Benedict  had  lost  his  head.  He  little  thought  that 
the  most  unforeseen  of  circumstances  had  just  restored  him 
to  liberty.  He  did  not  dream  that  the  ant-hill,  into  which  he 
had  just  entered,  had  opened  to  him  an  escape,  and  that  he 
liad  just  left  Alvez's  establishment.  The  forest  was  there, 
and  under  the  trees  was  his  manticore,  flying  away!  At  any 
price,  he  wanted  to  sec  it  again. 

See  him,  then,  running  across  the  thick  forest,  no  longer 
conscious  even  of  what  he  was  doing,  always  imagining  he  saw 
the  precious  insect,  beating  the  air  with  his  long  arms  like  a 
gigantic  field-spider.     Where  he  was  going,  how  he  would 


A    CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEX.  291 

return,  and  if  he  should  return,  he  did  not  even  ask  himself, 
and  for  a  good  mile  he  made  his  way  thus,  at  the  risk  of  being 
met  by  some  native,  or  attacked  by  some  beast. 

Suddenly,  as  he  passed  near  a  thicket,  a  gigantic  being 
sprang  out  and  threw  himself  on  him.  Then,  as  Cousin 
Benedict  would  have  done  with  the  manticore,  that  being 
seized  him  with  one  hand  by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  with  the 
other  by  the  lower  part  of  the  back,  and  before  he  had  time 
to  know  what  was  happening,  he  was  carried  across  the  forest. 

Truly,  Cousin  Benedict  had  that  day  lost  a  fine  occasion  of 
being  able  to  proclaim  himself  the  happiest  entomologist  of 
the  five  parts  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A    MAGICIAN. 

When  Mrs.  "Weldon,  on  the  17th  of  the  month,  did  not 
see  Cousin  Benedict  reappear  at  the  accustomed  hour,  she 
was  seized  with  the  greatest  uneasiness.  She  could  not  imag- 
ine what  had  become  of  her  big  baby.  That  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping  from  the  factory,  the  enclosure  of  which 
was  absolutely  impassable,  was  not  admissible.  Besides, 
Mrs.  "Weldon  knew  her  cousin.  Had  one  proposed  to  this 
oi'iginal  to  flee,  abandoning  his  tin  box  and  his  collection  of 
African  insects,  he  would  have  refused  without  the  shadow 
of  hesitation.  Now,  the  box  was  there  in  the  hut,  intact, 
containing  all  that  the  savant  had  been  able  to  collect  since 
liis  arrival  on  the  continent.  To  suppose  that  he  was  volun- 
tarily separated  from  his  entomological  treasures,  was  inad- 
missible. 

Nevertheless,  Cousin  Benedict  was  no  longer  in  Jose-An- 
tonio Alvez's  establishment. 

During  all  that  day  Mrs.  "Weldon  looked  for  him  persist- 
ently. Little  Jack  and  the  slave  Halima  joined  her.  It  was 
useless. 

Mrs.  "VN^'eldon  was  then  forced  to  adopt  this  sad  hypothesis: 
the  prisoner  had  been  carried  away  by  the  trader's  orders,  for 
motives  that  she  could  not  fathom,  lint  then,  what  had 
Alvez  done  with  him?  Had  he  incarrr-rated  him  in  one  of 
the  barracks  of  (lie  large  square?     Why  this  carrying  away. 


202  A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEK. 

coming  after  the  agreement  made  between  Mrs.  Weldon  and 
Nogoro,  an  agreement  wluch  included  ('ousin  IJcnedict  in  the 
number  of  the  jirisoners  "wlioni  tlie  traiUn*  ■\vould  conduct  to 
Mossamcdes,  to  be  pkiced  in  James  W.  Weldon's  lumds  for  a 
ransom? 

If  ^Irs.  AVeklon  had  been  a  witness  of  Alvcz's  anger,  "when 
the  hitter  learned  of  the  prisoner's  disappearance,  slic  would 
have  understood  that  this  disappearance  was  indeed  made 
against  his  will.  But  tlicn,  if  Cousin  lienedict  had  escaped 
voluntarily,  why  had  he  not  let  her  into  the  secret  of  hie 
escape  ? 

However,  the  search  of  Alvez  and  his  servants,  "which  was 
made  with  the  greatest  care,  led  to  the  discovery  of  that  mole- 
liill,  which  put  the  factory  in  direct  communication  with 
the  neighboring  forest.  The  trader  no  longer  doubted  that 
the  "fly-hunter"  had  fled  by  that  narrow  oj)ening.  One 
may  then  judge  of  his  fury,  when  he  said  to  himself  that 
this  flight  would  doubtless  be  put  to  account,  and  would  di- 
minish the  prize  that  the  aflair  would  bring  him. 

''That  imbecile  is  not  worth  much,"  thought  he,  "never- 
theless, I  shall  be  compelled  to  pay  dear  for  him.  Ah!  if  I 
take  him  again!" 

But  notwithstanding  the  searchings  that  were  made  inside, 
and  though  the  woods  were  beaten  OA'er  a  large  radius,  it 
Avas  impossiI)le  to  find  any  trace  of  the  fugitive. 

]\rrs.  Weldon  must  resign  herself  to  the  loss  of  her  cousin, 
and  Alvez  mourn  over  his  prisoner.  As  it  could  not  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  latter  had  established  communications  with 
the  outside,  it  appeared  evident  that  chance  alone  had  made 
liim  discover  the  existence  of  the  mole-hill,  and  that  he  had 
taken  flight  without  thinking  any  more  of  those  he  left  be- 
hind than  if  they  had  never  existed. 

]\Irs.  Weldon  was  forced  to  allow  that  it  must  be  so,  but 
she  did*not  dream  of  blaming  the  poor  man,  so  perfectly  un- 
conscious of  his  actions. 

"The  unfortunate!  what  will  become  of  him?"  she  asked 
herself. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  mole-hill  had  been  closed  up 
tlie  same  day,  and  with  the  greatest  care,  and  that  the  watch 
was  doubled  inside  as  well  as  outside  the  factory. 

The  monotonous  life  of  the  prisoners  then  continued  for 
Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  child. 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   riFTEEN.  203 

Meanwhile,  a  climatic  fact,  very  rare  at  that  period  cf  the 
year,  ■was  produced  in  the  ])rovinoe.  Persistent  rains  began 
about  the  lOtli  of  June,  though  the  mnsika  i)eriod,  that  fin- 
ishes in  Ai)ril,  was  passed.  In  fact,  the  sky  was  covered, 
and  continual  showers  inundated  the  territory  of  Kazounde. 

"\\'hat  was  only  a  vexation  for  Mrs.  "W'eldon,  because  she 
must  renounce  her  walks  inside  the  factory,  became  a  public 
misfortune  for  the  luitives.  1'he  lowlands,  covered  with  har- 
vests already  ripe,  were  entirely  submerged.  'Y\\q  inhabitants 
of  the  province,  to  Avhom  the  croj)  suddenly  failed,  soon  found 
themselves  in  distress.  All  the  labors  of  the  season  were 
compromised,  and  Queen  Moini.  any  more  than  her  minis- 
ters, did  not  know  liow  to  face  the  catastrophe. 

They  then  had  recourse  to  the  magicians,  but  not  to  those 
whose  profession  is  to  heal  the  sick  by  their  incantations  and 
sorceries,  or  who  predict  success  to  tlie  natives.  There  was 
a  public  misfortune  on  hand,  and  the  best  "mganngas,"  who 
have  the  privilege  of  provoking  or  stojiping  the  rains,  were 
l^rayed  to,  to  conjure  away  the  peril. 

Their  labor  was  in  vain.  It  was  in  vain  that  they  intoned 
their  monotonous  chant,  rang  their  little  bells  and  luind-bells, 
employed  their  most  precious  amulets,  and  more  jiarticularly, 
a  iiorn  full  of  mud  and  bark,  the  point  of  which  was  termi- 
nated by  three  little  horns.  The  s])irits  were  exorcised  by 
throwing  little  balls  of  dung,  or  in  spitting  in  the  faces  of  the 
most  august  personages  of  the  court;  but  tliey  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  chasing  away  the  bad  spirits  that  presided  over  the 
formation  of  the  clouds. 

Xow,  things  were  going  from  bad  to  worse,  when  Queen 
Moini  thought  of  inviting  a  celebrated  magician,  then  in  the 
north  of  Angola,  lie  was  a  magician  of  the  first  order,  whose 
power  was  tiie  moi'c  marvelous  because  they  had  never  tested 
it  in  this  country  where  he  had  never  come.  But  there  was 
no  question  of  its  success  among  the  ^fasikas. 

It  was  on  the  Soth  of  June,  in  the  moi-ning,  that  the  new 
magician  suddenly  announced  liis  arrival  at  Kazounde  with 
great  ringing  of  bells. 

Thi.s  sorcerer  came  straight  to  tlic  "tchitoka."  and  imme- 
diately the  crowd  of  natives  I'uslied  toward  liim.  The  sky 
Avas  a  little  less  rainy,  the  wind  indicated  a  tendency  to  change, 
and  those  sitrn.-t  of  calm,  coinciding  with  the  arrival  of  the 
magician,  predisposed  the  minds  of  the  natives  in  liis  favor. 


204  A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN. 

Besides,  he  was  n  superb  man — a  black  of  tlie  finest  water, 
lie  was  at  least  six  feet  high,  and  must  be  extraordinarily 
strong.     This  pi-estige  already  intluenced  tlie  crowd. 

(lenerally,  the  sorcerers  were  in  bands  of  three,  four,  or 
five  when  they  Avent  througli  the  villages,  and  a  certain  num- 
ber of  acolytes,  or  companions,  made  their  cortege.  This 
magician  wa^  alone.  His  whole  breast  was  zebraed  with  white 
marks,  done  with  uipe  clay.  The  lower  jiart  of  his  body  dis- 
api)eared  under  an  ample  skirt  of  grass  stulf,  the  "  train"  of 
wliieli  would  not  have  disgraced  a  modern  elegant.  A  collar 
of  birds' skulls  was  around  his  neck;  on  his  head  was  a  sort  of 
leathern  helmet,  with  plumes  ornamented  with  pearls;  around 
his  loins  a  copper  belt,  to  which  hung  several  hundred  bells, 
noisier  than  the  sonorous  harness  of  a  Spanish  mule:  thus 
this  magnificent  specimen  of  the  corporation  of  native  wizards 
was  dressed. 

All  the  material  of  his  art  was  comprised  in  a  kind  of 
basket,  of  which  a  calebash  formed  the  bottom,  and  which 
was  filled  with  shells,  amulets,  little  wooden  idols,  and  other 
fetiches,  plus  a  notable  rpiantity  of  dung  balls,  important  ac- 
cessories to  the  incantations  and  divinatory  practices  of  the 
centre  of  Africa. 

One  peculiarity  was  soon  discovered  by  the  crowd.  This 
magician  was  dumb.  But  this  infirmity  could  only  increase 
the  consideration  with  which  they  were  disposed  to  surround 
him.  He  only  made  a  guttural  sound,  low  and  languid, 
which  had  no  signification.  The  more  reason  for  being  well 
skilled  in  the  mysteries  of  witchcraft. 

The  magician  first  made  the  tour  of  the  great  place,  exe- 
cuting a  kind  of  dance  which  jiut  in  motion  all  his  chime  of 
bells.  The  crowd  followed,  imitating  his  movements — it 
might  be  said,  as  a  troop  of  monkeys  following  a  gigantic, 
four-handed  animal.  Then,  suddenly,  the  sorcerer,  treading 
the  i)i-incipal  street  of  Kazounde,  went  toward  the  royal  resi- 
dence. 

As  soon  as  Queen  Moini  had  been  informed  of  the  arrival 
of  the  new  wizard,  she. appeared,  followed  by  her  courtiers. 

The  magician  bowed  to  the  ground,  and  lifted  up  his  head 
again,  showing  his  superb  heiglit.  His  arms  were  then  ex- 
tended toward  the  sky,  which  was  rapidly  furrowed  by  masses 
of  clouds.  The  sorcerer  pointed  to  those  clouds  with  hia 
hand;  he  imitated  their  movements  in  an  animated  panto- 


A    CAPTAIN    AT    FIFTEEN.  295 

mime.  He  showed  them  fleeing  to  the  west,  but  returning 
to  the  east  by  a  rotary  movement  that  no  power  could  stop. 

Then,  suddenly,  to  the  great  surj)rise  of  the  town  and  the 
court,  tliis  sorcerer  took  the  redoubtable  sovereign  of  Ka- 
zounde  by  the  hand.  A  few  courtiers  wished  to  oppose  this 
act,  which  was  contrary  to  all  eticpiette;  but  the  strong  ma- 
gician, seizing  the  nearest  by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  sent  him 
staggering  fifteen  paces  off. 

Tiie  queen  did  not  appear  to  disap])roveof  this  proud  man- 
ner of  acting.  A  sort  of  grimace,  which  ought  to  be  a  smile, 
was  addressed  to  the  wizard,  Avho  drew  the  queen  on  with 
rapid  steps,  while  the  crowd  rushed  after  liim. 

This  time  it  was  toward  Alvoz's  establishment  that  the 
sorcerer  directed  his  steps.  He  soon  reached  the  door,  which 
was  shut.  A  simple  blow  from  his  shoulder  threw  it  to  the 
ground,  and  he  led  the  conquered  queen  into  the  interior  of 
the  factory. 

The  trader,  his  soldiers  and  liis  slaves,  ran  to  punish  the 
daring  being  who  took  it  upon  himself  to  throw  down  doors 
without  waiting  for  them  to  be  opened  to  him.  Suddenly, 
seeing  that  their  sovereign  did  not  protest,  they  stood  still,  in 
a  respectful  attitude. 

No  doubt  Alvez  was  about  to  ask  the  queen  why  he  was 
honored  by  her  visit,  but  the  magician  did  not  give  him  time. 
Making  the  crowd  recede  so  as  to  leave  a  large  sjnice  fiec 
around  him,  he  recommenced  his  pantomime  with  still 
greater  animation.  He  pointed  to  the  clouds,  he  threatened 
them,  he  exorcised  them;  he  made  a  sign  as  if  he  could  first 
stop  them,  and  then  scatter  them.  His  enormous  cheeks 
were  ])ulTi'd  out,  and  he  blew  on  this  mass  of  heavy  vapors  as 
if  he  had  the  strength  to  disperse  them.  Then,  standing 
upright,  he  seemed  to  intend  stopping  them  in  their  course, 
and  one  would  have  said  that,  owing  to  his  gigantic  Iieight, 
he  could  have  seized  them. 

Tiie  superstitious  Moini,  "overcome"  by  tlie  acting  of 
this  tall  comedian,  could  no  longer  control  lierself.  Cries 
escaped  her.  She  raved  in  her  turn,  ami  institictively  re- 
])eated  the  magician's  gestures.  The  courtiers  ami  the  crowd 
followed  her  exam))l(',  and  tlu-  mule's  guttural  sounds  were 
lost  amid  those  songs,  cries,  and  yells  which  the  native  lan- 
guage furnishos  willi  so  much  proiligality. 

Did  tiie  clouds  cease  to  rise  on  the  eastern  horizon  and  veil 
the  tropical  sun?     Did  they  vanish   before   the  exorcisms  of 


296  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

this  now  wizard?  Xo.  And  just  at  this  moment,  when  the 
queen  and  lier  people  imafrined  that  ihey  had  appeased  the 
evil  spirits  that  had  watered  tliem  with  so  many  showers,  the 
sky,  somewhat  clear  since  daybreak,  liceamc  darker  than  ever. 
hiiv^Q  drops  of  rain  fell  pattering  on  the  ground. 

Inen  a  sudden  change  took  place  in  the  crowd.  They 
then  saw  that  this  sorcerer  was  worth  no  more  than  the 
others.  The  queen's  brows  were  frowning.  They  under- 
stood that  he  at  least  was  in  danger  of  losing  his  ears.  The 
natives  liad  contracted  the  circle  around  him;  fists  threatened 
liim,  and  they  were  about  to  punish  him,  when  an  unfore- 
seen incident  changed  the  object  of  their  evil  intentions. 

The  magician,  who  overlooked  the  Avhole  yelling  crowd, 
stretched  his  arms  toward  one  spot  in  the  enclosure.  The 
gesture  was  so  imperious  that  all  turned  to  look  at  it. 

Mrs.  "NVeldon  and  little  Jack,  attracted  by  the  noise  and  the 
clamor,  had  just  left  their  hut.  The  magician,  Avith  an 
angry  gesture,  had  pointed  to  them  with  his  left  hand,  while 
liis  right  was  raised  toward  the  sky. 

They!  it  was  they!  It  was  this  white  woman — it  was  her 
child— they  were  causing  all  this  evil.  They  had  brought 
these  clouds  from  their  rainy  country,  to  inundate  the  terri- 
tories of  Kazounde. 

It  was  at  once  understood.  Queen  Moini,  pointing  to 
Mrs.  AVeldon,  made  a  threatening  gesture.  The  natives,  ut- 
tering still  more  terrible  cries,  rushed  toward  her. 

Mrs.  AVeldon  thought  herself  lost,  and  clasping  her  son  in 
her  arms,  she  stood  motionless  as  a  statue  before  this  over- 
excited crowd. 

The  magician  went  toward  her.  The  natives  stood  aside  in 
the  presence  of  this  wizard,  who,  with  the  cause  of  the  evil,, 
seemed  to  have  found  the  remedy. 

The  trader,  Alvez,  knowing  tliat  the  life  of  the  prisoner 
was  precious,  now  approached,  not  being  sure  of  what  he  " 
ought  to  do. 

The  magician  had  seized  little  Jack,  and  snatching  him 
from  his  mother's  arms,  he  held  him  toward  the  sky.  It 
seemed  as  if  he  were  about  to  dash  the  child  to  the  earth,  so 
as  to  appease  the  gods. 

With  a  terrible  cry,  ^Irs.  Weldon  fell  to  the  ground  in- 
sensible. 

But  the  magician,  after  having  made  a  sign  to  the  queen, 
which  no  doubt  reassured  her  as  to  liis  intentions,  raised  the 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN'.  297 

unhappy  mother,  and  while  the  crowd,  completely  snbdued, 
parted  to  give  him  space,  he  carried  her  away  with  her  child. 

Alvez  was  furious,  not  expecting  this  result.  After  having 
lost  one  of  the  three  jirisoners,  to  see  the  prize  contided  to  his 
care  thus  escape,  and,  with  the  prize,  the  large  bribe  promised 
him  by  Xegoro!  Never!  not  if  the  whole  territory  of  Ka- 
zounde  were  submerged  by  a  new  deluge  I  He  tried  to  oppose 
this  abduction. 

The  natives  now  began  to  mutter  against  him.  The  queen 
had  him  seized  by  her  guards,  and,  knowing  what  it  might 
cost  liim,  the  trader  was  forced  to  keep  quiet,  while  cursing 
the  stupid  credulity  of  Queen  Moiui's  subjects. 

The  savages,  in  fact,  expected  to  see  the  clouds  disappear 
with  those  who  had  brought  them,  and  they  did  not  doubt 
that  the  magician  would  destroy  the  scourge,  from  which 
they  suffered  so  much,  in  the  blood  of  the  strangers. 

Meanwhile,  the  magician  carried  off  his  victims  as  a  lion 
would  a  couple  of  kids  which  did  not  satisfy  his  powerful  ap- 
petite. Little  Jack  was  ten*ified,  his  mother  was  unconscious. 
The  crowd,  roused  to  the  highest  degree  of  fury,  escorted  the 
magician  with  yells;  but  he  left  the  enclosure,  crossed  Ka- 
zounde,  and  re-entered  the  forest,  walking  nearly  three  miles, 
without  resting  for  a  moment.  Finally  he  was  alone,  the 
natives  having  understood  that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  followed. 
He  arrived  at  the  bank  of  a  river,  whose  rapid  current  flowed 
toward  the  north. 

There,  at  the  end  of  a  large  opening,  behind  the  long, 
drooping  branches  of  a  thicket  which  hid  the  steep  bank,  was 
moored  a  canoe,  covered  by  a  sort  of  thatch. 

The  magician  lowered  his  double  burden  into  the  boat,  and 
following  himself,  shoved  out  from  the  bank,  and  the  current 
rapidly  carried  them  down  the  stream.  The  next  minute  he 
said,  in  a  very  distinct  voice: 

"Captain,  here  are  Mrs.  AVeldon  and  little  .Tack;  I  present 
them  to  you.  Forwanl.  And  may  all  the  clouds  in  heaven 
fall  on  those  idiots  of  Kazounde!" 


298  A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN. 


CHAPTER    XYII. 

DKIFTINQ. 


It  \ras  Hercules,  not  easily  recognized  in  his  magician's  at- 
tire, who  was  speaking  thus,  and  it  was  Dick  Sand  whom  ho 
was  addressing — Dick  Simd,  still  feeble  enough  to  lean  on 
Cousin  Benedict,  near  whom  Dingo  was  lying. 

Mrs.  Weldon,  who  had  regained  consciousness,  could  only 
pronounce  these   words: 

''You!     Dick!     You!" 

The  young  novice  rose,  but  already  Mrs.  "Weldon  waq 
pressing  him  in  her  arms,  and  Jack  was  lavishing  caresses  on 
nim. 

"My  friend  Dick!  my  friend  Dick!"  repeated  the  little 
boy.  Then,  turning  to  Hercules:  "And  I,"  he  added,  "I 
did  not  know  you!" 

"Hey!  what  a  disguise!"  replied  Hercules,  rubbing  his 
breast  to  efface  the  variety  of  coloi-s  that  striped  it. 

"  You  were  too  ugly!"  said  little  Jack. 

"Bless  me!  I  was  the  devil,  and  the  devil  is  not  hand- 
some." 

"Hercules!"  said  Mrs,  Weldon,  holding  out  her  hand  to 
the  brave  black. 

"He  has  delivered  you,"  added  Dick  Sand,  "as  he  has 
saved  me,  though  he  will  not  allow  it." 

"Saved!  saved!  We  are  not  saved  yet!"  replied  Hercules. 
"And  besides,  without  Mr.  Benedict,  who  came  to  tell  us 
where  you  were,  Mrs.  Weldon,  we  could  not  have  done  any- 
thing." 

In  fact,  it  was  Hercules  who,  five  days  before,  had  jumped 
upon  the  savant  at  the  moment  when,  having  been  led  two 
miles  from  the  factory,  the  latter  was  running  in  pursuit  of 
his  precious  manticore.  Witliout  this  incident,  neither  Dick 
Sand  nor  the  black  would  have  known  Mrs.  Weldon's  retreat, 
and  Hercules  would  not  have  ventured  to  Kazounde  in  a  ma- 
gician's dress. 

While  the  boat  drifted  with  rapidity  in  this  narrow  part  of 
the  river,  Hercules  related  what  had  passed  since  his  flight 
from  the  camp  on  the  Ooanza;  how,  without  being  seen,  he 
had  followed  the  kitanda  in  which  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  son 


_'^-^^-__:^J 


•nil.     MAI. I<  IAN     EXECl'TKII     A     KIND     <»!'     DAMi:     IIIAl     ri    1     1>    MolluN    ALU   IIIH 

CUIME  OF  r.ELLS. — See  jnn/e  55W. 


A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIFTEEN.  299 

were:  how  he  had  found  Dingo  wounded;  how  the  two  liad 
arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Kazounde;  how  a  note  from 
Hercules,  carried  by  the  dog,  told  Dick  8and  what  had  be- 
come of  Mrs.  Wei  don;  how,  after  the  unexpected  arrival  of 
Cousin  Benedict,  he  liad  vainly  tried  to  make  his  way  into 
the  factory,  more  carefully  guarded  than  ever;  how,  at  last, 
he  had  found  this  opportunity  of  snatching  the  prisoner  from 
that  horrible  Jose-Antonio  Alvez.  Now,  this  opportunity 
had  offered  itself  that  same  day,  A  mgannga,  or  magician, 
on  his  witchcraft  circuit,  that  celebrated  magician  so  impa- 
tiently expected,  was  passing  through  the  forest  in  which 
Hercules  roamed  every  uight,  Avatching,  waiting,  ready  for 
anything. 

To  s})ring  upon  the  magician,  despoil  him  of  his  baggage, 
and  of  his  magician's  vestments,  to  fasten  him  to  the  foot  of 
a  tree  with  liane  knots  that  the  Davenports  themselves  could 
not  have  untied,  to  paint  his  body,  taking  the  sorcerer's  for  a 
model,  and  to  act  out  his  character  in  charming  and  control- 
ling the  rains,  had  been  the  work  of  several  hours.  Still,  the 
incredible  credulity  of  the  natives  was  necessary  for  his  suc- 
cess. 

During  this  recital,  given  rapidly  by  Hercules,  nothing 
concerning  Dick  Sanri  liad  been  mentioned. 

"And  you,  Dick  I"  asked  Mrs.  "Weldon. 

"I,  Mrs.  "Weldon!"  replied  the  young  man.  "I  can  tell 
you  nothing.  My  last  thought  was  for  you,  for  Jack! 
I  tried  in  vain  to  break  the  cords  that  fastened  me  to  the 
stake.  The  water  rose  over  my  head.  I  lost  conscious- 
ness. When  I  came  to  myself,  I  Avas  sheltered  in  a  hole,  con- 
cealed by  the  pai)yrus  of  "this  bank,  and  Hercules  was  on  his 
knees  beside  me,  lavishing  his  care  upon  me." 

''Weill  that  is  because  J  am  a  physician,"  replied  Hercules; 
"a  diviner,  a  sorcerer,  a  magician,  a  f(»r(une-tellerl'' 

"Hercules,"  said  Mrs.  Weldon,  "tell  me,  how  did  you  save 
Dick  San.l?" 

"Did  I  do  it,  Mrs.  Weldon?"  replied  Hercules.  ":Might 
not  th.-^  current  have  broken  the  stake  to  which  our  e:i]it;iiii 
was  tied,  and  in  the  middl(M)f  the  Jiight,  carried  him  half- 
dead  on  this  beam,  to  the  place  where  I  receiveil  him  J*  J5e- 
sidcs,  in  the  darkness,  there  was  no  difheully  in  gliding  anidug 
the  victims  that  earj)cted  the  ditch,  waiting  f<»r  the  huisting 
of  the  dam,  diving  underwater,  and,  with  a  little  strength, 
pulling  up  our  caj»tain  and   the  stake  to  whicli  tliesc  scoun- 


300  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 

(Irols  had  bound  him!  Tlioro  was  nothing  very  extra'ordi nary 
in  all  that!  The  lirst-comcr  could  have  done  as  much.  Mr. 
Benedict  himself,  or  even  Dingo!  In  fact,  might  it  not  have 
been  Dingo?" 

A  yelping  was  heard;  and  Jack,  taking  hold  of  the  dog's 
large  head,  gave  him  several  little,  friendly  taps. 

**  Dingo,  "  he  asked,  "did  you  save  our  friend  Dick?" 

At  the  same  time  he  turned  the  dog's  head  from  right  to 
left. 

•'He  savs,  no,  Hercules!"  said  Jack.  "You  see  that  it  was 
not  he.     I)ingo,  did  Hercules  save  our  captain?" 

The  little  boy  forced  Dingo's  good  head  to  move  up  and 
down,  five  or  six  times. 

"He  says,  yes,  Hercules!  he  says,  yes!"  cried  little  Jack. 
**  You  see  then  that  it  was  you!" 

"Friend  Dingo,"  replied  Hercules,  caressing  the  dog,  "that 
is  wrong.     You  promised  me  not  to  betray  me!" 

Yes,  it  was  indeed  Hercules,  who  had  risked  his  life  to  save 
Dick  Sand.  But  he  had  done  it,  and  his  modesty  would  not 
allow  him  to  agree  to  the  fact.  Besides,  he  thought  it  a  very 
simple  thing,  and  he  repeated  that  anyone  of  his  companions 
would  have  done  the  same  under  the  circumstances. 

This  led  Mrs.  AVeldon  to  speak  of  old  Tom,  of  his  son,  of 
Acteon  and  Bat,  his  unfortunate  companions. 

They  had  started  for  the  lake  region.  Hercules  had  seen 
them  pass  with  the  caravan  of  slaves.  He  had  followed  them, 
but  no  opportunity  to  communicate  Avith  them  had.  presented 
itself.     They  were  gone!  they  were  lost! 

Hercules  had  been  laughing  heartily,  but  now  he  shed  tears 
which  he  did  not  try  to  restrain. 

"  Do  not  cry,  my  friend,"  Mrs.  Weldon  said  to  him.  "  God 
may  be  merciful,  and  allow  us  to  meet  them  again." 

In  a  few  words,  she  informed  Dick  8and  of  all  that  had 
happened  during  her  stay  in  Alvez's  factory. 

"  Perliaps,"  she  added,  "it  would  have  been  better  to 
have  remained  at  Kazounde." 

"  What  a  fool  I  was!"  cried  Hercules. 

"No,  Hercules,  no!"  said  Dick  Sand.  " These  wretches 
would  have  found  means  to  draw  Mr.  AVeldon  into  some  new 
trap.  Let  us  flee  together,  and  without  delay.  AVe  shall 
reach  the  coast  before  Negoro  can  return  to  Mossamedes. 
There,  the  Portuguese  authorities  will  give  us  aid  and  pro- 


A    CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEN.  301 

teetion ;  and  when  Alvcz  comes  to  take  his  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars " 

'•'A  hundred  thousand  blows  on  the  old  scoundrel's  skull!" 
cried  Hercules;   **and  I  will  undertake  to  keep  the  count." 

HowcA'er,  here  was  a  new  complication,  although  it  was 
very  evident  that  Mrs.  AVeldon  would  not  dream  of  returning 
to  Kazounde.  The  point  now  was  to  anticipate  Xegoro.  All 
Dick  Sand's  projects  must  tend  toward  that  end. 

Dick  Sand  was  now  putting  in  practice  the  plan  Avhich  he 
had  long  contemplated,  of  gaining  the  coast  by  utilizing  the 
current  of  a  river  or  a  stream.  Xow,  the  water-course  was 
there;  its  direction  was  northward,  and  it  was  possible  that 
it  emptied  into  the  Zaire.  In  that  case,  instead  of  reaching 
St.  Paul  de  Loando,  it  would  be  at  the  mouth  of  the  great 
river  that  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  companions  would  arrive. 
This  was  not  important,  because  help  would  not  fail  them  in 
the  colonies  of  Lower  Guinea. 

Having  decided  to  descend  the  current  of  this  river,  Dick 
Sand's  first  idea  was  to  embark  on  one  of  the  herbaceous 
rafts,  a  kind  of  floating  isle  (of  which  Cameron  has  often 
spoken),  which  drifts  in  large  numbers  on  the  surface  of 
African  rivers. 

But  Hercules,  while  roaming  at  night  on  the  bank,  had 
been  fortunate  enough  to  find  a  drifting  boat.  Dick  Sand 
could  not  hope  for  anything  better,  and  chance  had  served 
liim  kindly.  In  fact,  it  was  not  one  of  those  narrow  boats 
which  the  natives  generally  use. 

Tlie  i)erogiie  found  by  Hercules  was  one  of  those  whose 
length  exceeds  thirty  feet,  and  tlie  widtli  four — and  thev  arc 
carried  rapidly  on  the  waters  of  the  great  lakes  by  the  aid  of 
numerous  })addles.  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  companions  could 
install  tlicmselves  comfortably  in  it,  and  it  was  suflicient  to 
keep  it  in  the  stream  by  means  of  an  oar  to  descend  the  cur- 
rent of  the  river. 

At  first,  Dick  Sand,  wishing  to  pass  unseen,  had  formed  a 
})roject  to  travel  only  at  night.  But  to  drift  twelve  lioursout 
of  the  twenty-four,  was  to  double  the  length  of  a  journey 
which  might  he  cpiite  long.  Happily,  Dick  Sand  had  taken 
a  fancy  to  cover  the  ))eiogue  witii  a  roof  of  long  grasses,  sus- 
tained on  a  rofi,  which  j»rojected  fore  and  aft.  Tliis,  when 
on  the  water,  conceulcd  even  the  hrig  oar.  One  would  liavo 
said  that  it  was  ;i  pile  (»f  lierbs  wliich  drifted  (h>wn  stri-am, 
in  the  midst  of  floating  islets.     Sucii  was  the  ingenious  ar- 


303  A   CAPTAIN    AT   FIKTKEN. 

rungcmcnt  of  tlio  tliatcli,  that  the  hirds  were  deceived,  and, 
seeing  there  some  grains  to  pilfer,  red-beaked  gulls,  "arr- 
hinisgas  "  of  black  ])lumage,  aud  gray  and  white  halcyons  f re* 
quently  come  to  rest  upon  it. 

Besides,  this  green  roof  formed  a  shelter  from  the  heat  of 
the  sun.  A  voyage  made  under  these  conditions  might  then 
be  accomplished  almost  without  fatigue,  but  not  without 
danger. 

In  fact,  the  journey  wonld  be  a  long  one,  and  it  would  bo 
necessary  to  procure  food  each  day.  Hence  the  risk  of  hunt- 
ing (m  the  banks  if  fishing  would  not  suffice,  and  Dick  Sand 
liad  no  fire-arms  but  the  gun  carried  off  by  Hercules  after  tlio 
attack  on  the  ant-hill;  but  he  counted  on  every  shot.  Per- 
haps even  by  passing  his  gun  through  the  thatch  of  the  boat 
he  might  fire  with  surety,  like  a  butter  through  the  holes  in 
his  hut. 

Meanwhile,  the  perogue  drifted  with  the  force  of  the  cur- 
rent a  distance  not  less  than  two  miles  an  hour,  as  near  as 
Dick  Sand  could  estimate  it. 

He  hoped  to  make,  thus,  fifty  miles  a  day.  But,  on  ac- 
count of  this  very  rapidity  of  the  current,  continual  care  was 
necessary  to  avoid  obstacles — rocks,  trunks  of  trees,  and  the 
high  bottoms  of  the  river.  Besides,  it  was  to  be  feared  that 
this  current  would  change  to  rapids,  or  to  cataracts,  a  fre- 
quent occurrence  on  the  rivers  of  Africa. 

The  joy  of  seeing  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  child  had  restored  all 
Dick  Sand's  strength,  and  he  had  posted  himself  in  the  fore-part 
of  the  boat.  Across  the  long  grasses,  his  glance  observed  the 
downward  course,  and,  either  by  voice  or  gesture,  he  indi- 
cated to  Hercules,  whose  vigorous  hands  held  the  oar,  what 
was  necessary  so  as  to  keep  in  the  right  direction. 

Mrs.  "Weldon  reclined  on  a  bed  of  dry  leaves  in  the  center 
of  the  boat,  and  grew  absorbed  in  her  own  thoughts.  Cousin 
Benedict  was  taciturn,  frowning  at  the  sight  of  Hercules, 
whom  he  had  not  forgiven  for  his  intervention  in  the  affair 
of  the  matiticore.  He  dreamed  of  his  lost  collection,  of  his 
entomological  notes,  the  value  of  which  would  not  be  appre- 
ciated by  the  natives  of  Kazounde.  So  he  sat,  his  limbs 
Rtretciied  out,  and  his  arms  crossed  on  his  breast,  and  at  times 
he  instinctivelv  made  a  gesture  of  raising  to  his  forehead  the 
glasses  which  his  nose  did  not  support.  As  for  little  Jack, 
he  understood  that  ho  must  not  make  a  noise;  but,  as  motion 


A   CAPTAIX   AT  FIFTEEX.  3C3 

was  not  forbidden,  lie  imitated  his  friend  Dingo,  and  ran  on 
his  hands  and  feet  from  one  end  of  tlie  boat  to  the  other. 

During  the  first  two  da3\s  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  companions 
used  the  food  that  Hercules  had  been  able  to  obtain  before 
they  started.  Dick  Sand  only  stopped  for  a  few  hours  in  the 
night,  so  as  to  gain  rest.  But  he  did  not  leave  the  boat,  not 
wishing  to  do  it  except  when  obliged  by  the  necessity  of  re- 
newing their  provisions. 

No  incident  marked  the  beginning  of  the  voyage  on  this 
unknown  river,  which  measured,  at  least,  more  than  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  in  width.  Several  islets  drifted  on  the 
surface,  and  moved  with  the  same  rapidity  as  the  boat.  So 
there  was  no  danger  of  running  upon  them,  unless  some  ob- 
stacle stopped  them. 

The  banks,  besides,  seemed  to  be  deserted.  Evidently 
these  portions  of  the  territory  of  Kazouude  were  little  fre- 
quented by  the  natives. 

Xumerous  wild  plants  covered  the  banks,  and  relieved  them 
with  a  profusion  of  the  most  brilliant  colors.  Swallow-wort, 
iris,  lilies,  clematis,  balsams,  umbrella-shaped  flowers,  aloes, 
tree-ferns,  and  spicy  shrubs  formed  a  border  of  incom]iarablc 
brilliancy.  Several  forests  came  to  bathe  their  borders  in 
these  rapid  waters.  Copal-trees,  acacias,  "bauhinias"  of 
iron-wood,  the  trunks  covered  with  a  dress  of  lichens  on  the 
side  exposed  to  the  coldest  winds,  fig-tix-es  which  rose  above 
roots  arranged  in  rows  like  mangroves,  and  other  trees  of 
magnificent  growth,  overhung  the  river.  Their  high  tops, 
joining  a  hundred  feet  above,  formed  a  bower  which  the  solar 
rays  could  not  penetrate.  Often,  also,  a  bridge  of  lianes  was 
thrown  from  one  bank  to  the  other,  and  during  the  2Tth  little 
Jack,  to  his  intense  admiration,  saw  a  band  of  monkeys  cross 
one  of  these  vegetable  passes,  holding  each  other's  tail,  le::;t 
the  bridge  should  break  under  their  weight. 

These  monkeys  are  a  kind  of  small  cliimpanzee,  Avhich  in 
Central  Africa  has  received  the  name  of  "sokos."  They 
have  low  foreheads,  clear  yellow  faces,  and  high-set  ears,  and 
arc  very  ugly  exanijdcs  of  the  sin/iesr/ne  race.  They  live  in 
bands  of  a  dozen,  bark  like  dogs,  and  are  feared  l)y  the  natives, 
whose  children  they  often  carry  off  to  scratch  or  liile. 

In  passing  tho  banc  Ijridge  they  never  suspected  thai, 
beneath  that  mass  of  lierbs  Avhich  {ho  current  boie  onward, 
there  was  a  little  boy  who  would  have  exactly  served  to  amuse 
them.     Tiic  preparations,  designed  by  Dick  Sand,  were  very 


304  A    TAl^AlX    AT   FTPTEEX. 

well  conceived,  bccanso  these  clear-sighted  hcasis  were  de- 
ceived by  them. 

Twenty  miles  farther  on,  that  same  day,  the  boat  was  snd- 
denly  stopped  in  its  proixress. 

*•  Wiiat  is  the  matter?"  asked  Hercules,  always  posted  at 
liis  oar. 

"  A  barrier,"  replied  Dick  Sand;  "  but  a  natural  barrier." 

"It  must  be  broken,  Mr.  Dick." 

"  Yes,  Hercules,  and  with  a  hatchet.  Several  islets  have 
drifted  upon  it,  and  it  is  quite  strong." 

"  To  work,  captain!  to  work!"  replied  Hercules,  who  came 
and  stood  in  the  fore-part  of  the  pcrogue. 

This  barricade  was  formed  by  the  interlacing  of  a  sticky 
plant  with  glossy  leaves,  which  twists  as  it  is  pressed  together, 
and  becomes  very  resisting.  'J'hey  call  it  "  tikatika,"  and  it 
will  alknv  people  to  cross  water-courses  dry-shod,  if  they  arc 
not  afraid  to  plunge  twelve  inches  into  its  green  apron.  Mag- 
nificent ramifications  of  the  lotus  covered  the  surface  of  this 
barrier. 

It  was  already  dark.  Hercules  could,  without  imprudence, 
quit  the  boat,  and  he  managed  his  hatchet  so  skilfully  that 
two  hours  afterward  the  barrier  had  given  way,  the  current 
turned  up  the  broken  jjieces  on  the  banks,  and  the  boat  again 
took  the  channel. 

Must  it  be  confessed!  That  great  child  of  a  Cousin  Bene- 
dict had  hoped  for  a  moment  that  they  would  not  be  able  to 
pass.  Such  a  voyage  seemed  to  him  unnecessary.  He  re- 
gretted Alvez's  factory  and  the  hut  that  contained  his  precious 
entomologist's  box.  His  chagrin  was  real,  and  indeed  it  was 
pitiful  to  see  the  poor  man.  Not  an  insect;  no,  not  one  to 
preserve ! 

"What,  then,  was  his  joy  when  Hercules,  "his  pupil"  after 
all,  brought  him  a  horrible  little  beast  Avhich  he  had  found  on 
a  sprig  of  the  tikatika.  Singularly  enough  the  brave  black 
seemed  a  little  confused  in  presenting  it  to  him. 

But  what  exclamations  Cousin  Benedict  uttered  when  he  had 
brought  this  insect,  which  he  held  between  his  index  finger 
and  his  thumb,  as  near  as  possible  to  his  short-sighted  eyes, 
which  neither  glasses  nor  microscope  could  now  assist. 

"  Hercules!"  he  cried,  "Hercules!  Ah!  see  what  will  gain 
your  pardon!  Cousin  Weldon!  Dick!  a  hexapode,  unique  in 
its  species,  and  of  African  origin!  This,  at  least,  they  will 
not  dispute  with  me,  and  it  shall  quit  me  only  with  my  life!" 


A   CAPTAIK  AT  riFTEE>^-.  305 

**It  is,  then,  very  precious?"  asked  Mrs.  Weldon. 

"Precious!"  cried  Cousin  Benedict.  **An  insect  which  is 
neither  a  coleoiiter,  nor  a  neuropteran,  nor  a  hymenojiter; 
which  does  not  belong  to  any  of  the  ten  orders  recognized  by 
savants,  and  which  they  will  be  rather  tempted  to  rank  in 
the  second  section  of  the  arachnides.  A  sort  of  spider, 
which  would  be  a  spider  if  it  had  eight  legs,  an<i  is,  however, 
a  hexapode,  because  it  has  but  six.  Ah!  my  friends.  Heaven 
owed  me  this  joy;  and  at  length  I  shall  give  my  name  to  a 
scientific  discovery!  That  insect  shall  be  the  'Hexapodes 
Benedictus.'" 

The  enthusiastic  savant  was  so  happy — he  forgot  so  many 
miseries  past  and  to  come  in  riding  his  favorite  hobby — that 
neither  Mrs.  Weldon  nor  Dick  Sand  grudged  him  his  felicita- 
tions. 

All  this  time  the  pirogue  moved  on  the  dark  waters  of  tlic 
river.  The  silence  of  night  was  only  disturbed  by  the  clat- 
tering scales  of  the  crocodiles,  or  the  snorting  of  the  hippo- 
potami that  sported  on  the  banks. 

Then,  through  the  sprigs  of  the  thatch,  the  moon  appeared 
behind  the  tops  of  the  trees,  throwing  its  soft  light  to  the 
interior  of  the  boat. 

Suddenly,  on  the  right  bank,  was  heard  a  distant  hubbub, 
then  a  dull  noise  as  if  giant  pumps  were  working  in  the  dark. 

It  was  several  hundred  elephants,  that,  satiated  by  the 
woody  roots  which  thev  had  devoured  during  the  day,  came 
to  quench  their  thirst  hefore  the  hour  of  repose.  One  would 
really  have  supposed  that  all  these  trunks,  lowered  and  raised 
by  the  same  automatic  movement,  would  have  drained  the 
river  dry. 


CnAPTER  xviir. 

VARIOUS     IXCIDEN"TS. 

PoR  eight  days  the  boat  drifted,  carried  by  the  current 
under  the  eondiliouH  already  dcscriljcd.  IS'o  incid(Mit  of  any 
importance  occurred.  For  a  space  of  nuuiy  miles  the  river 
bathed  tlie  l)orders  of  KUjierb  f(jresls;  then  Ihecouniry,  Hhoru 
of  tluiso  lino  trees,  fci])rcud  in  jniigled  U)  tho  limits  o£  the 
horizon. 


306  A  CAPTAIJf   AT  FIFTEEN'. 

If  there  were  no  natives  in  this  conntry — a  fact  which  Dick 
Sand  did  not  dream  of  regretting — the  animals  at  least 
abounded  there.  Zebras  s))orte(l  on  the  banks,  elks,  and  "  caa- 
nias,"  a  species  of  antelope  which  were  extremely  graceful, 
and  they  disappeared  at  night  to  give  place  to  the  leopards, 
whose  growls  could  be  heard,  and  even  to  the  lions  which 
bounded  in  the  tall  grasses.  Thus  far  the  fugitives  had  not 
sulfercd  from  these  ferocious  creatures,  whether  in  the  forests 
or  in  the  river. 

Meanwhile,  each  day,  generally  in  the  afternoon,  Dick 
Sand  neared  one  bank  or  tlie  other,  moored  the  boat,  disem- 
barked, and  explored  the  shore  for  a  short  distance. 

In  fact,  it  was  necessary  to  renew  their  daily  food.  Now, 
in  this  country,  barren  of  all  cultivation,  they  could  not  de- 
pend upon  the  tapioca,  the  sorgho,  the  maize,  and  the  fruits, 
which  formed  the  vegetable  food  of  tiie  native  tribes.  These 
plants  only  grew  in  a  wild  state,  and  were  not  eatable.  Dick 
Sand  was  thus  forced  to  hunt,  although  the  firing  of  his  gun 
might  bring  about  an  unpleasant  meeting. 

They  made  a  fire  by  rubbing  a  little  stick  against  a  piece  of 
the  Avild  fig-tree,  native  fashion,  or  even  simiesque  style,  for 
it  is  affirmed  that  certain  of  the  gorillas  procure  a  fire  by  this 
means.  Then,  for  several  days,  they  cooked  a  little  elk  or 
antelope  flesh.  During  the  4tli  of  July  Dick  Sand  suc- 
ceeded in  killing,  with  a  single  ball,  a  "  pokou,"  which  gave 
them  a  good  supply  of  venison.  This  animal  was  five  feet; 
long;  it  had  long  horns  provided  with  rings,  a  yellowish  red 
skin,  dotted  with  brilliant  spots,  and  white  on  the  stomach; 
and  the  flesh  was  found  to  be  excellent. 

It  followed  then,  taking  into  account  these  almost  daily 
landings  and  the  hours  of  repose  that  were  necessary  at  night, 
that  the  distance  on  the  8th  of  July  could  not  be  estimated 
as  more  than  one  hundred  miles.  This  was  considerable, 
however,  and  already  Dick  Sand  asked  himself  wlierethis  in- 
terminable river  ended.  Its  course  absorbed  some  small 
tributaries,  and  did  not  sensibly  enlarge.  As  for  the  general 
direction,  after  having  been  north  for  a  long  time,  it  took  a 
bend  toward  the  northwest. 

However,  this  river  furnished  its  share  of  food.  Long 
lianes,  armed  Avith  thorns,  which  served  as  fish-hooks,  caught 
several  of  those  delicately-flavored  '*  sandjikas,"  which,  once 
smoked,  are  easily  carried  in  this  region;  black  '*  usakas  " 
wove  also  caught,  and  some  "monndes,"  with  large  heads, 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN".  307 

the  genciva  of  which  have  teeth  like  the  hairs  of  a  brush,  and 
some  little  "  dagalas,"  the  friends  of  running  waters,  belong- 
ing to  the  clupe  species,  and  resembling  the  whitebait  of  the 
Thames. 

During  the  9th  of  July,  Dick  Sand  had  to  give  proof  of 
extreme  coolness.  He  was  alone  on  the  shore,  carrying  off  a 
"caama,"  the  horns  of  Avhich  showed  above  the  thicket.  He 
had  just  shot  it,  and  now  there  bounded,  thirty  feet  off,  a 
formidable  hunter,  that  no  doubt  came  to  claim  its  prey,  and 
was  not  in  a  humor  to  give  it  up.  It  was  a  lion  of  great 
height,  one  of  those  which  the  natives  call  "  karamos,"  and 
not  one  of  the  kind  without  a  mane,  named  "lion  of  the 
Kyassi."  This  one  measured  five  feet  in  height — a  formid- 
able beast.  With  one  bound  the  lion  had  fallen  on  the 
"caama,"  which  Dick  Sand's  ball  had  just  thrown  to  the 
ground,  and,  still  full  of  life,  it  shook  and  cried  under  the 
paw  of  the  powerful  animal. 

Dick  Sand  was  disarmed,  not  having  had  time  to  slide  a 
second  cartridge  into  his  gun. 

At  the  first  blow  the  lion  perceived  him,  but  at  first  it  con- 
tented itself  with  looking. 

Dick  Sand  had  enough  self-control  not  to  make  a  motion. 
He  remembered  that  in  similar  circumstances  repose  has 
been  salvation.  He  did  not  attempt  to  reload  his  gun— he 
did  not  even  try  to  flee. 

The  lion  watched  him  with  its  red  and  luminous  cat's  eyes. 
It  hesitated  between  two  kinds  of  prey,  that  which  moved, 
and  that  which  did  not  move.  If  the  caama  were  not  strug- 
gling under  the  lion's  claw,  Dick  Sand  would  have  been  lost. 

Two  minutes  passed.  The  lion  looked  at  Dick  Sand,  and 
Dick  Sand  looked  at  the  lion,  Avithout  even  winking. 

Then,  with  a  su])erb  movement,  the  lion  took  up  the  ]i;int- 
ing  caama,  carried  it  off  as  a  dog  would  a  hare,  aiul,  la'ating 
tlie  shrubs  with  iiis  formidable  tail,  he  disai)peared  in  the  tall 
underbrush. 

Dick  Sand  remained  motionless  for  some  minutes,  then  be 
left  the  spot  and  rejoiiu'd  his  companions;  but  lie  said  notli- 
ing  of  the  danger  which  his  coolness  had  enahlod  liini  to 
escape. 

But  if,  instead  of  drifting  in  the  rii]iid  current,  tlie  fugi- 
tives had  Ijeen  obliged  to  cross  the  ])Iuins  jind  forests  fre- 
quented bv  simihir  Ix-asts,  ])erhap8  at  this  time  not  a  survivor 
of  the  ''I'ilgrim"  would  exist. 


308  A   CArTAIN"  AT  FIFTEEN. 

However,  if  the  country  were  then  uninhabited,  it  liadnot 
always  been  so.  More  ilian  ojice,  on  certain  depressions  of 
the  eartb,  they  could  still  lind  traces  of  ancient  villafjes.  A 
traveler  accustomed  to  traverse  tliese  regions,  as  David  Liv- 
ingstone has  done,  "would  not  have  been  deceived.  Seeing 
these  high  stockades  of  spurge,  which  outlasted  the  thatched 
luits,  and  the  sacred  fig-tree,  rising  drearily  in  the  middle  of 
the  inclosure,  he  would  have  allirmed  that  a  small  village  had 
existed  there.  But,  according  to  native  customs,  the  death 
(jf  a  chief  had  sufficed  to  make  the  inhabitants  abandon  their 
dwellings,  and  move  to  another  place  in  the  territory. 

Perhaps,  also,  in  the  country  crossed  by  this  river,  the 
tribes  lived  under  ground,  as  in  other  parts  of  Africa.  These 
savages,  placed  in  the  lowest  scale  of  humanity,  appear  out 
of  their  holes  at  night,  like  animals  out  of  their  dens,  and 
one  Avould  have  been  as  dangerous  to  meet  as  the  other. 

Undoubtedly  this  was  the  country  of  the  Anthropophagi. 
Two  or  three  times,  in  some  clearing,  among  cinders  scarcely 
cool,  Dick  Sand  found  half-charred  human  bones — the  re- 
mains of  some  horrible  repast.  Xow,  a  fatal  chance  might 
bring  these  cannibals  of  Upper  Kazounde  to  these  banks  at 
the  very  moment  when  Dick  Sand  went  on  shore.  So  he  no 
longer  stopped  without  a  real  necessity  for  doing  so,  and  not 
without  making  Hercules  promise  that  at  the  least  alarm  the 
boat  would  be  shoved  out  into  the  stream.  The  brave  black 
had  promised;  but  when  Dick  Sand  stepped  on  shore  it  was 
difficult  for  him  to  liide  his  mortal  anxiety  from  Mrs.  Weldon. 

During  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  July  it  was  necessary  to 
double  their  caution.  On  the  right  bank  rose  a  village  of 
lacustrine  houses.  The  wideninijf  of  the  stream  had  formed 
a  kind  of  lake,  the  waters  of  which  bathed  about  thirty  of 
these  huts  built  upon  piles.  The  current  ran  under  these 
huts,  and  the  boat  had  to  follow  it,  for  toward  the  left,  the 
river,  strewn  with  rocks,  was  impassable. 

Now,  the  village  was  inhabited.  Some  jBres  blazed  under 
the  roofs.  They  heard  voices,  which  seemed  to  converse 
roughly.  If,  unfortunately,  as  often  happens,  ropes  were 
stretched  between  the  piles,  the  alarm  might  be  given  while 
the  boat  was  trying  to  force  a  passage. 

Dick  Sand,  in  front,  lowering  his  voice,  gave  directions  to 
avoid  striking  against  these  rotten  constructions.  The  night 
was  clear.  They  saw  well  to  direct  the  boat,  but  they  could 
also  be  seen. 


A  captai:m  at  fifteen.  309 

Then  came  a  terrible  moment.  Two  natives,  who  talked  in 
loud  tones,  were  squatting  close  to  the  water  on  the  piles,  be- 
tween which  the  current  carried  the  boat,  and  the  direction 
could  not  be  changed  for  a  narrower  pass.  Now,  would  they 
not  see  it,  and  at  their  cries  might  not  the  whole  village  be 
alarmed? 

A  space  of  a  hundred  feet  at  most  remained  to  be  passed, 
when  Dick  Sand  heard  the  two  natives  call  more  quickly  to 
each  other.  One  showed  the  other  the  mass  of  drifting  herbs, 
which  threatened  to  break  the  long  liane  ropes  which  they 
were  occupied  in  stretching  at  that  moment. 

Rising  hastily,  they  called  out  for  help. 

Five  or  six  other  blacks  ran  at  once  along  the  piles  and 
posted  themselves  on  the  cross-beams  which  supported  them, 
uttering  loud  exclamations  which  the  listeners  cotild  not 
understand. 

In  the  boat,  on  the  contrary,  was  absolute  silence,  except 
for  the  few  orders  given  by  Dick  Sand  in  a  low  voice,  and 
complete  repose,  except  the  movement  of  ITercules's  rigiit  arm 
moving  the  oar;  at  times  a  low  growl  from  Dingo,  whose 
jaws  Jack  held  together  with  his  little  hands;  outside,  the 
murmur  of  the  Avater  which  broke  against  the  piles,  then 
above,  the  cries  of  the  ferocious  cannibals. 

The  natives,  meanwhile,  rapidly  drew  up  their  ropes.  If 
they  were  raised  in  time  the  bout  Avould  pass,  otherwise  it 
would  be  caught,  and  all  would  bo  over  with  those  who 
drifted  in  it!  As  for  slackening  or  stopping  its  progress, 
Dick  Sand  could  do  neither,  for  the  current,  stronger  under 
this  narrow  construction,  carried  it  forward  more  rapidly. 

In  half  a  minute  the  boat  was  caught  between  the  })ile3. 
liy  an  unheard  of  piece  of  fortune,  the  last  ellort  made  by 
the  natives  had  raised  the  ropes. 

liut  in  passing,  as  Dick  Sand  had  feared,  the  l»oat  was 
de]>rived  of  a  part  of  the  grasses  which  now  iloated  at  its 
right. 

One  of  the  natives  uttered  a  cry.  Had  lie  had  lime  to 
recognize  what  tlic  roof  covered,  and  was  lie  goiug  to  alarm 
his  comrades?     It  was  more  than  probable. 

Dick  Sands  and  liis  friends  were  already  out  of  reach, 
and  in  a  few  moments,  under  the  imjtetus  of  this  current, 
now  changed  into  a  kind  of  rapid,  they  had  lost  eight  of 
the  lacustrine  village. 


310  A    CAPTAIN   AT   riFTEEN. 

"To  the  left  bank!"  Dick  Sand  ordered,  as  being  more 
prudent.      *' The  stream  is  ap:ain  navigable." 

"To  the  left  bank!"'  replied  Hercules,  giving  the  oar  a 
vigorous  stroke. 

Dick  Sand  stood  beside  him  and  looked  at  the  surface  of 
the  water,  which  the  moon  lit  up.  He  saw  nothing  sus- 
picious. Not  a  boat  had  started  in  pursuit.  Perhaps  these 
savages  had  none;  and  at  daybreak  not  a  native  a})peared, 
either  on  the  bank  or  on  the  Avatcr.  After  that,  increasing 
tlioir  precautions,  the  boat  kept  close  to  the  left  bank. 

During  the  four  following  days,  from  the  11th  to  the 
14th  of  July,  Mrs.  AVeldon  and  her  companions  re- 
marked that  this  portion  of  tlie  territory  had  decidedly 
changed.  It  was  no  longer  a  deserted  country;  it  was  also  a 
desert,  and  they  might  have  compared  it  to  that  Kalahari  ex- 
plored by  Livingstone  on  his  first  voyage. 

The  arid  soil  recalled  nothing  of  the  fertile  fields  of  the 
upper  country. 

And  always  this  interminable  stream,  to  which  might  be 
given  the  name  of  river,  as  it  seemed  that  it  could  only  end 
at  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  question  of  food,  in  this  desert  country,  became  a 
problem.  Nothing  remained  of  their  former  stock.  Fishing 
gave  little;  hunting  was  no  longer  of  any  use.  Elks,  ante- 
lopes, pokous,  and  other  animals,  could  find  nothing  to  live 
on  in  this  desert,  and  with  them  had  also  disappeared  the 
carnivorous  animals. 

The  nights  no  longer  echoed  the  accustomed  roarings. 
Nothing  broke  the  silence  but  the  concert  of  frogs,  wliich 
Cameron  compares  with  the  noise  of  calkers  calking  a  ship; 
with  riveters  who  rivet,  and  the  drillers  Avho  drill,  in  a  ship- 
builder's yard. 

The  country  on  the  two  banks  was  flat  and  destitute  of 
trees  as  far  as  the  most  distant  hills  that  bounded  it  on  the 
east  and  west.  The  spurges  grew  alone  and  in  profusion — 
not  the  euphosbium  Avhich  produces  cassava  or  tapioca  flour, 
but  those  from  which  they  draw  an  oil  which  does  not  serve 
as  food. 

Meantime  it  is  necessary  to  provide  some  nourishment. 

Dick  Sand  knew  not  Avhat  to  do,  and  Hercules  reminded 
him  that  the  natives  often  eat  the  young  shoots  of  the  ferns 
and  the  pith  which  the  papyrus  leaf  contains.  He  himself, 
while  following  the  caravan  of  Ibu  Hamis  across  the  desert. 


A   CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEIf.  311 

had  been  more  than  once  reduced  to  this  expedient  to  satisfy 
his  hunger.  Happily,  the  ferns  and  the  papyrns  grew  in  pro- 
fusion along  the  banks,  and  the  marrow  or  pith,  which  has  a 
sweet  flavor,  was  appreciated  by  all,  particularly  by  little 
Jack. 

This  was  not  a  very  cheering  prospect;  the  food  was  not 
strengthening,  but  the  next  day,  thanks  to  Cousin  Benedict, 
they  were  better  served.  Since'  the  discovery  of  the  "  Ilexa- 
podus  Benedictus,"  which  was  to  immortalize  his  name. 
Cousin  Benedict  had  recovered  his  usual  manners.  The  in- 
sect was  put  in  a  safe  place,  that  is  to  say,  stuck  in  the  crown 
of  his  hat,  and  the  savant  had  recommenced  his  search  when- 
ever they  were  on  shore.  During  that  day,  while  hunting  in 
the  high  grass,  he  started  a  bird  whose  warbling  attracted 
him. 

Dick  Sand  was  going  to  shoot  it,  when  Cousin  Benedict 
cried  out: 

''Don't  fire,  Dickl  Don't  fire!  A  bird  among  five  per- 
sons would  not  be  enough." 

''It  will  be  enough  for  Jack,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  taking 
aim  at  the  bird,  which  was  in  no  hurry  to  fly  away. 

"Xo,  nol*'  said  Cousin  Benedict,  ''do  not  fire!  It  is  an 
indicator,  and  it  will  l)ring  us  honey  in  abundance." 

Dick  Sand  lowered  iiis  gun,  realizing  that  a  few  pounds  of 
honey  were  worth  more  than  one  bird;  and  Cousin  Benedict 
and  he  followed  the  bird,  which  rose  and  flew  away,  inviting 
them  to  go  with  it. 

They  had  not  far  to  go,  and  a  few  minutes  after,  some  old 
trunks,  hidden  in  between  the  spurges,  appeared  in  the  midst 
of  an  intense  buzzing  of  bees. 

Cousin  Benedict  would  have  preferred  not  to  have  robbed 
these  industrious  hymenopters  of  the  "fruit  of  their  labors," 
as  he  expressed  it.  But  J)ick  Sand  did  not  understand  it  in 
that  way.  He  smoked  out  the  bees  with  some  dry  herbs  and 
obtained  a  consideral)le  quantity  of  honey.  Then  leaving  to 
the  indicator  the  cakes  of  wax,  Mhich  made  its  share  of  tho 
profit.  Cousin  Ik-nedict  and  he  returned  to  the  boat. 

The  lioney  was  well  received,  but  it  was  ])ut  little,  and,  in 
fact,  all  would  have  snfTered  cruelly  from  hunger,  if,  during 
the  day  of  the  12th,  the  boat  had  not  stonped  near  a  creek 
where  some  loeusts  swarmed.  Thcv  covered  the  ground  and 
the  shrubs  in  myriads,  two  or  three  deep.  Now,  Cousin 
Benedict  not  failing  lo  say  that  tho  natives  frequently  eat 


313  A    CAPTAI^r   AT   FIFTEEN. 

these  orthopters — wliicli  was  i^evfectly  trwo — they  took  pos- 
session of  this  luaima.  There  was  enough  to  fill  the  boat  ten 
times,  and  broiled  over  a  mild  fire,  these  edible  locusts  Avould 
have  seemed  excellent  even  to  less  famished  people.  Cousin 
Benedict,  for  his  jiart,  eat  a  notable  qnautity  of  them,  sigh- 
iug,  it  is  true — still,  he  eat  them. 

!Xevertheless,  it  "was  time  for  this  long  series  of  moral  and 
physical  trials  to  come  to  an  end.  Although  drifting  on  this 
rapid  river  was  not  so  fatiguing  as  had  been  the  walking 
through  the  first  forests  near  the  coast,  still,  the  excessive 
heat  of  the  day,  the  damp  mists  at  night,  and  the  incessant 
attacks  of  the  mosquitoes,  made  this  descent  of  the  water- 
course very  painful.  It  Avas  time  to  arrive  somewhere,  and 
yet  Dick  Sand  could  see  no  limit  to  the  journey.  Would  it 
last  eight  days  or  a  month?  Xothing  indicated  an  answer. 
Had  the  river  flowed  directly  to  the  west,  they  would  have 
already  reached  the  northern  coast  of  Angola;  but  the  gen- 
eral direction  had  been  rather  to  the  north,  and  they  could 
travel  thus  a  long  time  before  reaching  the  coast. 

Dick  Sand  was,  therefore,  extremely  anxious,  when  a  sud- 
den change  of  direction  took  place  on  the  morning  o£  the 
Uth  of  July. 

Little  Jack  was  in  the  front  of  the  boat,  and  he  was  gazing 
through  the  thatch,  when  a  large  expanse  of  water  apjjeared 
on  the  horizon. 

''The  sea!''  he  shouted. 

At  this  word  Dick  Sand  trembled,  and  came  close  to  little 
Jack. 

"  The  seal"'  he  replied.  "  Xo,  not  yet;  but  at  least  a  river 
which  flows  toward  the  west,  and  of  which  this  stream  is  only 
a  tributary.     Perhaps  it  is  the  Zaire  itself." 

'"May  God  grant  that  it  is!"'  replied  Mrs.  Weld  on. 

Yes;  for  if  this  were  the  Zaire  or  Congo,  which  Stanley  was 
to  discover  a  few  years  later,  they  had  only  to  descend  its 
course  so  as  to  reach  the  Portuguese  settlements  at  its  mouth. 
Dick  Sand  hoped  that  it  might  be  so,  and  he  was  inclined  to 
believe  it. 

During  the  15th,  ICth,  17th  and  18th  of  July,  in  the  midst 
of  a  more  fertile  country,  the  boat  drifted  on  the  silvery 
waters  of  the  river.  They  still  took  the  same  precautions, 
and  it  was  alvrays  a  mass  of  herbs  that  the  current  seemed  to 
carry  on  its  surface. 

A  few  days  more,  and  no  doubt  the  survivors  of  the  "  Pil- 


A   CAPTAIX   AT   FIFTEEX.  313 

grim"  would  see  the  termination  of  their  miseries.  Self- 
sacrifice  had  been  shared  m  hy  all,  and  if  the  young  novice 
would  not  claim  the  greater  part  of  it,  Mrs.  Weldon  would 
demand  its  recognition  for  him. 

But  on  the  18th  of  July,  during  the  night,  an  inci- 
dent took  place  which  compromised  the  safety  of  the  party. 
Toward  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  distant  noise,  still 
very  low,  was  heard  in  the  west.  Dick  Sand,  very  anxious, 
wished  to  know  what  caused  it.  While  Mrs.  Weldon,  Jack^ 
and  Cousin  Benedict  slept  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  he  called 
Hercules  to  the  front,  and  told  him  to  listen  with  the  greatest 
attention. 

The  night  was  calm.     Xot  a  breeze  stirred  the  atmosphere. 

"It  is  the  noise  of  the  sea,''  said  Hercules,  whose  eyes 
shone  with  joy. 

"Xo,"  replied  Dick  Sand,  holding  down  his  head. 

"What  is  it  then?"  asked  Hercules. 

"  Wait  until  day;  but  we  must  watch  with  the  greatest 
care." 

At  this  answer,  Hercules  returned  to  his  post. 

Dick  Sand  stood  in  front,  listening  all  the  time.  The  noise 
increased.     It  was  soon  like  distant  roaring. 

Day  broke  almost  without  dawn.  About  half  a  mile  down 
the  river,  just  above  the  water,  a  sort  of  cloud  floated  in  the 
atmosphere.  But  it  was  not  a  mass  of  vapor,  and  this  be- 
came only  too  evident,  when,  under  the  first  solar  rays,  which 
broke  in  piercing  it,  a  beautiful  rainbow  spread  from  one  bank 
to  the  other. 

*'To  the  shorel"  cried  Dick  Sand,  whose  voice  awoke  Mrs. 
Weldon.  "It  is  a  cataract!  Those  clouds  are  spray!  To 
the  shore,  Hercules!" 

Dick  Sand  was  not  mistaken.  Before  thorn,  the  bed  of  the 
river  broke  in  a  descent  of  more  than  a  hundred  feet,  and  the 
waters  rushed  down  with  su])erb  but  irresistible  impetuosity. 
Another  half  mile,  aud  the  boat  would  have  been  engulfed  In 
the  abyss. 


314  A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

S.  V. 

With  a  vigorous  blow  of  the  oar,  Hercules  had  pushed 
toward  the  left  bank.  Besides,  the  current  was  not  more 
rapid  in  that  place,  and  the  bed  of  the  river  kept  its  normal 
declivity  to  the  falls.  As  has  been  said,  it  was  the  sudden 
sinking  of  the  ground,  and  tlie  attraction  was  only  felt  three 
or  four  hundred  feet  above  the  cataract. 

On  the  left  bank  were  large  and  very  thick  trees.  No 
light  penetrated  their  impenetrable  curtain.  It  was  not 
witliout  terror  that  Dick  Sand  looked  at  this  territory,  in- 
habited by  the  cannibals  of  the  lower  Congo,  which  he  must 
now  cross,  because  the  boat  could  no  longer  follow  the  stream. 
He  could  not  dream  of  carrying  it  below  the  falls.  It  was  a 
terrible  blow  for  these  poor  people,  on  the  eve  perhaps  of 
reaching  the  Portuguese  villages  at  its  mouth.  They  were 
well  aided,  however.  Would  not  Heaven  come  to  their  as- 
sistance? 

The  boat  soon  reached  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  As  it 
drew  near.  Dingo  gave  strange  marks  of  impatience  and  grief 
at  the  same  time. 

Dick  Sand,  Avho  was  watching  the  animal — for  all  Avas  dan- 
ger— asked  himself  if  some  beast  or  some  native  was  not  con- 
cealed in  the  high  papyrus  of  the  bank.  But  he  soon  saw 
that  the  animal  was  not  agitated  by  a  sentiment  of  anger. 

"One  would  say  that  Dingo  is  crying!"  exclaimed  little 
Jack,  clasping  Dingo  in  his  two  arms. 

Dingo  escaped  from  him,  and,  springing  into  the  water, 
when  the  boat  was  only  twenty  feet  from  the  bank,  reached 
the  shore  and  disappeared  among  the  bushes. 

Ncitiier  Mrs.  Weldon,  nor  Dick  Sand,  nor  Hercules,  knew 
what  to  think. 

Tiiey  landed  a  few  moments  after  in  the  middle  of  a  foam 
green  with  hair  weed  and  other  aquatic  plants.  Some  king- 
fishers, giving  a  sliarp  wliistle,  and  some  little  herons,  white 
as  snow,  immediately  flew  away.  Hercules  fastened  the  boat 
firmly  to  a  mangrove  stump,  and  all  climbed  up  the  steep 
bank  overhung  by  large  trees. 


HrllllF.M.V.  riN   THE    KKIIIT    In 

NUIUe.    AM    IK   (IIANT    rUMTn 


I    Mil)    A    DIHTANT    lirilllllt,   AMI   'IIIKN    A    DIXL 
WtUb  WUUKI.Mi    IN  THK  UAllK.  — ^'<ty/«(/«!  aUTj. 


A  CAPTAIN   AT  FIFTEEN.  olo 

There  was  no  path  in  this  forest.  However,  faint  traces 
on  the  ground  indicated  that  this  place  had  been  recently 
visited  by  natives  or  animals. 

Dick  Sand,  with  loaded  gun,  and  Hercules,  with  his  hatchet 
in  his  hand,  had  not  gone  ten  steps  before  they  found  Dingo 
again.  The  dog,  nose  to  the  ground,  was  following  a  scent, 
barking  all  the  time.  A  first  inexplicable  presentiment  had 
drawn  the  animal  to  this  part  of  the  shore,  a  second  led  it 
into  the  depths  of  the  wood.     That  was  clearly  visible  to  all. 

"Attention!"  said  Dick  Sand.  '^Irs.  Weldon,  Mr.  Bene- 
dict, Jack,  do  not  leave  us!     Attention,  Hercules!" 

At  this  moment  Dingo  raised  its  head,  and,  by  little  bounds, 
invited  them  to  follow. 

A  moment  after  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  companions  rejoined 
it  at  the  foot  of  an  old  sycamore,  lost  in  the  thickest  part  of 
the  wood. 

There  was  a  dilapidated  hut,  with  disjoined  boards,  before 
which  Dingo  was  barking  lamentably. 

*MYho  can  be  there?"  exclaimed  Dick  Sand. 

He  entered  the  hut. 

Mrs.  Weldon  and  the  others  followed  him. 

The  ground  was  scattered  with  bones,  already  bleached  un- 
der the  discoloring  action  of  the  atmosphere. 

"A  man  died  in  that  hut!"  said  Mrs.  AVeldon. 

''And  Dingo  knew  that  man!"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "It 
was,  it  must  have  been,  his  master!    Ah,  see!" 

Dick  Sand  pointed  to  the  naked  trunk  of  the  sycamore  at 
the  end  of  the  hut. 

There  appeared  two  large  red  letters,  already  almost  effaced, 
but  which  could  be  still  distinguished. 

Dingo  had  rested  its  right  paw  on  the  tree,  and  it  seemed 
to  indicate  them. 

"S.  Y.!"  exclaimed  Dick  Sand.  "Those  letters  which 
Dingo  knew  among  all  others!  Those  initials  that  it  carries 
on  its  collar!" 

He  did  not  finish,  and  stooping,  he  picked  up  a  little  cop- 
per box,  all  oxydizcd,  wliicli  lay  in  a  corner  of  the  hut. 

That  box  was  opened,  and  a  morsel  of  paper  fell  from  it, 
on  whicli  Dick  Sand  read  these  few  words: 

'*  Assassinated — robbed  by  my  guide,  Xegoro — 3d  Decem- 
ber, 1871 — here — 120 miles fromthe coast — Dingo! — with  me! 

"S.  VerKON." 


olO  A   CAITAIK  AT  FIFTEEN. 

The  note  told  everythinf;.  8amuol  Vernon  set  ont  with  his 
dog;,  Dinsjo,  to  explore  the  centre  of  Africa,  guided  by  Negoro. 
The  money  which  he  curried  had  excited  the  wretch's  cui)id- 
ity,  and  ho  resolved  to  take  possession  of  it.  The  French 
traveler,  arrived  at  this  i)oint  of  the  Congo's  banks,  had  es- 
tablished his  camp  in  tliis  liut.  There  lie  was  mortally 
wounded,  robbed,  abandoned.  The  murder  accomplished, 
no  doubt  Negora  took  to  flight,  and  it  was  then  that  he  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Portuguese.  Eecognized  as  one  of  the 
trader  Alvez's  agents,  conducted  to  Saint  Paul  de  Loanda,  he 
was  condemned  to  finish  his  days  in  one  of  the  penitentiaries 
of  the  colony.  "We  know  that  he  succeeded  in  escaping,  in 
reaching  New  Zealand,  and  how  he  embarked  on  the  "Pil- 
grim "  to  the  misfortune  of  those  who  had  taken  passage  on 
it.  But  what  happened  after  the  crime?  Xothing  but  what 
was  easy  to  understand!  The  unfortunate  Vernon,  before 
dying,  had  evidently  had  time  to  Avrite  tlie  note  which,  with 
the  date  and  the  motive  of  the  assassination,  gave  the  name 
of  the  assassin.  This  note  he  had  shut  up  in  that  box 
Avhere,  doubtless,  the  stolen  money  was,  and,  in  a  last  effort, 
his  bloody  finger  had  traced  like  an  epitaph  the  initials  of 
his  name.  Before  those  two  red  letters,  Dingo  must  have 
remained  for  many  days!  He  had  learned  to  know  them! 
He  could  no  longer  forget  them!  Then,  returned  to  the 
coast,  the  dog  had  been  picked  u]i  by  the  captain  of  the 
"Waldeck,"  and  finally,  on  board  the  ''Pilgrim,"  found 
itself  again  with  Xegoro.  During  this  time,  the  bones  of 
the  traveler  were  whitening  in  the  depths  of  this  lost  forest 
of  Central  Africa,  and  he  no  longer  lived  except  in  the  re- 
membrance of  his  dog. 

Yes,  such  must  have  been  the  way  the  events  had  hap- 
pened. As  Dick  Sand  and  Hercules  prepared  to  give  a 
Christian  burial  to  the  remains  of  Samuel  Vernon,  Dingo, 
this  time  giving  a  hoAvl  of  rage,  dashed  out  of  the  hut. 

Almost  at  once  horrible  cries  were  heard  at  a  short  dis- 
tance. Evidently  a  man  was  struggling  with  the  powerful 
animal. 

Hercules  did  what  Dingo  had  done.  In  his  turn  he  sprang 
out  of  the  hut,  and  Dick  Sand,  Mrs.  AVeldon,  Jack,  Bene- 
dict, following  his  steps,  saw  him  throw  himself  on  a  man, 
who  fell  to  the  ground,  held  at  the  neck  by  the  dog's  formi- 
dable teeth. 

It  was  Negoro. 


A   CAPTAIX   AT  FIFTEEN".  317 

In  going  to  the  mouth  of  the  Zaire,  so  as  to  embark  for 
America,  this  rascal,  leaving  his  escort  behind,  had  come  to 
the  very  place  where  he  had  assassinated  the  traveler  who  had 
trusted  himself  to  him. 

Bat  there  was  a  reason  for  it,  and  all  underetood  it  when 
they  perceived  some  handfuls  of  French  gold  which  glittered 
in  a  recently-dug  hole  at  the  foot  of  a  tree.  So  it  was  evident 
that  after  the  murder,  Jiud  before  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  Portuguese,  Xegoro  had  hidden  the  product  of  his  crime, 
with  the  intention  of  returning  some  day  to  get  it.  He  was 
going  to  take  jwssession  of  this  gold  when  Dingo  scented 
him  and  sprang  at  his  throat.  The  wretch,  surprised,  had 
drawn  his  cutlass  and  struck  the  dog  at  the  moment  when 
Hercules  threw  himself  on  him,  crying: 

*' Ah,  villain!  I  am  going  to  strangle  you  at  lastP 
There  was  nothing  more  to  do.  The  Portuguese  gave  no 
sign  of  life,  struck,  it  may  be  said,  by  divine  justice,  and  on 
the  very  spot  where  the  crime  had  l>een  committed.  But  the 
faithful  dog  had  received  a  mortal  blow,  and,  dragging  itself 
to  the  hut,  it  came  to  die  there — where  Samuel  Vernoii  had 
died. 

Hercules  buried  deep  the  traveler's  remains,  and  Dingo, 
lamented  by  all,  was  put  in  the  same  grave  as  its  master. 

Xegoro  was  no  more,  but  the  natives  who  accompanied  him 
from  Kazounde  could  not  be  far  away.  On  not  seeing  him 
return,  they  would  certainly  seek  him  along  the  river.  This 
was  a  very  serious  danger. 

Dick  Sand  and  Mrs,  Weldon  took  counsel  as  to  wliat  they 
should  do,  and  do  without  losing  an  instant- 
One  fact  acquired  was  that  this  stream  was  the  Congo, 
which  the  natives  call  Kwaugo,  or  Ikoutouya  Kongo,  and 
which  is  tiie  Zaire  under  one  longitude,  the  Loualaba  under 
another.  It  w;is  indeed  that  great  artery  of  Central  Africa, 
to  which  the  heroic  Stanley  has  given  the  glorious  name  of 
"  Livingstone,"  but  wliich  the  geographers  should  ix;rhaps 
rc])laco  by  his  own. 

But,  it  thore  was  no  longer  any  doubt  that  this  was  the 
Ccngo,  the  French  traveler's  note  indicated  that  its  mouth 
was  s'JU  one  hundred  and  twenty  Uiilcs  from  this  ]ioint,  and, 
unfortunately,  at  this  place  it  was  no  longer  navigable.  High 
falls — very  likely  the  falls  of  Ntamo — forbid  tiie  descent,  of 
any  boat.  Thus  it  was  necessary  to  follow  one  or  the  other 
bank,  at  least  to  a  point  below  the  cataracts,  citlier  one  or 


31?  A    CAPTAIN"   AT   FIFTEEF. 

two  miles,  where  they  could  make  a  raft,  and  trust  themselves 
again  to  the  currcnt. 

"  It  remains,  then,"  said  Dick  Sand,  in  conclusion,  "  to 
decide  if  we  shall  descend  the  left  bank,  where  we  are,  or  the 
right  bank  of  the  river.  Botli,  Mrs.  Wcldon,  appear  dan- 
gerous to  me,  and  the  natives  are  formidable.  However,  it 
seems  as  if  we  risk  more  on  this  bank,  because  "we  have  the 
fear  of  meeting  Negoro's  escort. 

"  Let  us  pass  over  to  the  other  bank,"  replied  Mrs.  Wal- 
do n. 

"Is  it  practicable?"  obsen^ed  Dick  Sand.  "The  road  to 
the  Congo's  mouths  is  rather  on  the  left  bank,  as  Negoro  was 
following  it.  Never  mind.  We  must  not  hesitate.  But  be- 
fore crossing  the  river  with  you,  Mrs.  Weldon,  I  must  know 
if  we  can  descend  it  below  the  falls." 

That  was  prudent,  and  Dick  Sand  wished  to  put  his  pro- 
ject into  execution  on  the  instant. 

The  river  at  this  place  was  not  more  than  three  or  four 
hundred  feet  Avide,  and  to  cross  it  was  easy  for  the  young 
novice,  accustomerl  to  handling  tlie  oar.  Mrs.  Weldon,  Jack, 
and  Cousin  Benedict  would  remain  under  Hercules's  care  till 
his  return. 

These  arrangements  made,  Dick  Sand  was  going  to  set  out, 
when  Mrs.  Weldon  said  to  him: 

"You  do  not  fear  being  carried  away  by  the  falls,  Dick?" 

"No,  Mrs.  Weldon.  I  shall  cross  four  hundred  feet 
above." 

"  Rut  on  the  other  bank " 

"I  shall  not  land  if  I  see  the  least  danger." 

"  Take  your  gun." 

"Yes,  but  do  not  be  uneasy  about  me." 

"  Perhaps  it  would  be  better  for  us  not  to  separate,  Dick," 
added  Mrs.  Weldon,  as  if  urged  by  some  presentiment. 

"  No — let  me  go  alone,"  replied  Dick  Sand.  "I  must  act 
for  the  security  of  all.  Before  one  hour  I  shall  be  back. 
Watch  -well,  Hercules." 

On  this  reply  the  l)oat,  unfastened,  carried  Dick  Sand  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Zaire. 

Mrs.  Weldon  and  Hercules,  lying  in  the  papyrus  thickets, 
followed  him  with  their  eyes. 

Dick  Sand  soon  reached  the  middle  of  the  stream.  The 
currcnt,  without  being  very  strong,  was  a  little  accentuated 
there  by  the  attraction  of   the  falls.     Four   hundred   feet 


A   CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEX.  319 

below,  the  imposing  roaring  of  the  waters  filled  the  space, 
and  some  spray,  carried  by  the  western  wind,  reached  the 
young  novice.  lie  shuddered  at  the  thought  that  the  boat,  if 
it  had  been  less  carefully  watched  during  the  last  night, 
would  have  been  lost  over  those  cataracts,  that  would  only 
have  restored  dead  bodies.  But  that  was  no  longer  to  be 
feared,  and,  at  that  moment,  the  oar  skilfully  handled  suf- 
ficed to  maintain  it  in  a  direction  a  little  oblique  to  the  cur- 
rent. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  Dick  Sand  had  reached  the 
opposite  shore,  and  was  preparing  to  spring  on  the  bank. 

At  that  moment  cries  were  heard,  and  ten  natives  rushed 
on  the  mass  of  plants  that  still  hid  the  boat. 

They  were  the  cannibals  from  the  lake  village.  For  eight 
days  they  had  followed  tlie  right  bank  of  the  river.  Under 
that  thatch,  which  was  torn  by  tlie  stakes  of  their  village, 
they  had  discovered  the  fugitives,  that  is  to  say,  a  sure  prey 
for  them,  because  the  barrier  of  the  falls  would  sooner  or 
later  oblige  those  unfortunate  ones  to  land  on  one  or  the  other 
side  of  tlie  river. 

Dick  Sand  saw  that  he  was  lost,  but  he  asked  himself  if 
the  sacrifice  of  his  life  might  not  save  his  companions.  Mas- 
ter of  himself,  standing  m  the  front  of  the  boat,  his  gun 
pointed,  he  held  tlie  cannibals  in  check. 

Meanwhile,  they  snatched  away  the  thatch,  under  which 
they  expected  to  find  other  victims.  When  they  saw  that  the 
young  novice  alone  had  fallen  into  their  hands,  they  betrayed 
their  disappointment  by  frightful  cries.  A  boy  of  fifteen 
among  ten! 

But,  then,  one  of  those  natives  stood  up,  his  arm  stretched 
toward  the  left  bank,  and  pointed  to  ^Mrs.  AVeldon  and  her 
companions,  who,  having  seen  all  and  not  knowing  what  to 
do,  had  just  climbed  up  the  bank! 

I)ick  Sand,  not  even  dreaming  of  himself,  waited  for  an  in- 
spiration from  Heaven  that  might  save  them. 

The  boat  was  going  to  be  }»ushed  out  into  the  stream.  The 
cannibals  were  going  to  cross  the  river.  "JMioy  did  not  budge 
before  the  gun  aimed  at  them,  knowing  the  cfTcct  of  lire- 
arms,  lint  one  of  them  had  seized  the  oar;  he  managed  it 
like  a  man  who  knew  how  to  use  it,  and  the  boat  crossed  the 
river  obli(|tiely.  Soon  it  was  not  more  than  a  hundred  feet 
from  the  left.  hank. 

"  Flee!"  cried  Dick  Sand  to  :Mrs.  AVeldon.     ''Fleer 


320  A    rATTAT^r   AT   FIFTEEN'. 

Neither  AFrs.  "W'eldon  nor  Hercules  stirred.  One  would 
pay  that  their  feet  Avcre  fastened  to  the  ground. 

Flee!  Besides,  what  good  would  it  do?  In  less  than  an 
hour  they  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  cannibals! 

Dick  Sand  understood  it.  But,  then,  that  supreme  inspi- 
ration which  ho  asked  from  Heaven  was  sent  him.  He  saw 
the  possibility  of  saving  all  those  whom  he  loved  by  making 
the  sacrifice  of  his  own  life!     lie  did  not  hesitate  to  do  it. 

"  ^fay  God  protect  them!"  murmured  he,  *'and  in  His  in- 
finite goodness  may  lie  have  pity  on  me!" 

At  the  same  instant  Dick  Sand  pointed  his  gun  at  the 
native  who  was  steering  the  boat,  and  the  oar,  broken  by  a 
ball,  flew  into  fragments. 

The  cannibals  gave  a  cry  of  terror. 

In  fact,  the  boat,  no  longer  directed  by  the  oar,  went  with 
the  stream.  The  current  bore  it  along  with  increasing  swift- 
ness, and,  in  a  few  moments,  it  was  only  a  hundred  feet  from 
the  falls. 

Mrs.  "Weldon  and  Hercules  understood  all.  Dick  Sand  at- 
tempted to  save  them  by  precipitating  the  cannibals,  witli 
himself,  into  the  abyss.  Little  Jack  and  his  mother,  kneel- 
ing on  the  bank,  sent  him  a  last  farewell.  Hercules's  power- 
less hand  was  sti-etched  out  to  him. 

At  that  moment  the  natives,  wishing  to  gain  the  left  bank 
by  swimming,  threw  themselves  out  of  the  boat,  which  they 
capsized. 

Dick  Sand  had  lost  none  of  his  coolness  in  the  presence  of  the 
death  which  menaced  him.  A  last  thought  then  came  to 
him.  It  was  that  this  boat,  even  because  it  was  floating  keel 
upward,  might  serve  to  save  him. 

In  fact,  two  dangers  were  to  be  feared  Avhen  Dick  Sand 
should  be  going  over  the  cataract:  asphyxia  by  the  water, 
and  as])hyxia  by  the  air.  Now,  this  overturned  hull  was  like 
a  box,  in  which  he  might,  perhaps,  keep  his  head  out  of  the 
water,  at  the  same  time  that  he  would  be  sheltered  from  the 
exterior  air,  which  would  certainlv  have  stifled  him  in  the 
rapidity  of  his  fall.  In  these  conditions,  it  seems  that  a  man 
Mould  have  some  chance  of  escaping  the  double  asphyxia, 
even  in  descending  the  cataracts  of  a  Niagara. 

Dick  Sand  saw  all  that  like  lightning.  By  a  last  instinct 
he  clung  to  the  seat  which  united  the  two  sides  of  the  boat, 
and,  his  head  out  of  the  water,  under  the  capsized  hull,  he 


A    CAPTAIN   AT   FIFTEEN.  321 

felt  the  irresistible  current  carrj'ing  him  away,  and  the  almost 
perpendicular  fall  taking  place. 

The  boat  sank  into  the  abyss  hollowed  out  by  the  waters  at 
the  foot  of  the  cataract,  and,  after  plunging  deep,  returned  to 
tlie  surface  of  the  river. 

Dick  Sand,  a  good  swimmer,  understood  that  his  safety 
now  depended  on  the  vigor  of  his  arms. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  after  he  reached  the  left  bank,  and 
there  found  Mrs,  Vreldon,  little  Jack  and  Cousin  Benedict, 
whom  Hercules  had  led  there  in  all  haste. 

But  already  the  canniljals  had  disappeared  in  the  tumult  of 
the  waters.  They,  whom  the  capsized  boat  had  not  protected, 
had  ceased  to  live  even  before  reaching  the  last  depths  of  the 
abyss,  and  their  bodies  were  going  to  be  torn  to  pieces  on 
those  sharp  rocks  on  which  the  under-current  of  the  stream 
dashed  itself. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CONCLUSION". 

Two  days  after,  the  20th  of  July,  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her 
companions  met  a  caravan  going  toward  Emboma,  at  tlio 
mouth  of  the  Congo.  These  were  not  slave  merchants,  but 
honest  Portuguese  traders,  who  dealt  in  ivory.  They  made 
the  fugitives  welcome,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  journey  was 
accomplished  under  more  agreeable  conditions. 

The  meeting  with  this  caravan  was  really  a  blessing  from 
Heaven.  Dick  Sand  would  never  have  hocn  able  to  descend 
the  Zaire  on  a  raft.  From  the  Falls  of  Xtamo,  a  far  as  Ycl- 
lala,  the  stream  was  a  succession  of  rapids  and  cataracts. 
Stanley  counted  seventy-two,  and  no  boat  could  undertake  to 
pass  them.  It  was  at  the  moutli  of  the  Congo  that  the  in- 
trepid traveler,  four  years  later,  fought  the  last  of  the  thirty- 
two  combats  wliich  he  waged  with  tlic  nativt-s.  TiOwer  down, 
in  the  cataracts  of  Ml)olo,  ho  osca]K'd  death  bv  a  miracle. 

On  the  11th  of  August,  Mrs.  W'eldon,  DiV-k  Sand,  Jack, 
Hercules,  and  Cousin  Ik'nedict  arrived  at  Kniboma.  Messrs. 
Motta  \'iega  and  Ilariison  received  them  with  getierous  lio:;- 
pitality.  A  steamer  was  about  sailing  for  the  Jstlnnus  of 
Panama.  Mrs.  Weldon  and  her  comi)aiiioiis  took  ])assage  in 
it,  and  hap])ily  reached  the  Aniericau  coast. 

A  dispatch  t^ent  to  Sau  Francisco  informeii  Mr.  W'eMon  of 
the  unlooked-for  return  of  his  wife  and  his  child,      ll<!  hail 


323  A    CATTAIN"    AT   FIFTEEN. 

vainly  searched  for  tidings  of  them  at  every  place  where  lie 
thouglit  the  "Pilgrim"  might  have  been  wrecked. 

Finally,  on  the  25tli  of  August,  the  survivors  of  the  ship- 
wreck reached  the  capital  of  California.  Ah!  if  old  Tom 
and  his  comjianions  had  only  hecn  with  them! 

AVhat  shall  we  say  of  Dick  Sand  and  of  Hercules?  One 
became  the  son,  the  other  the  friend  of  the  family.  James 
Weldon  knew  how  much  he  owed  to  the  young  novice,  how 
much  to  the  brave  black.  He  was  happy;  and  it  was  fortu- 
nate for  him  that  Negoro  had  not  reached  him,  for  he  would 
iiave  paid  the  ransom  of  his  wife  and  child  with  his  whole 
fortune.  He  would  have  started  for  the  African  coast,  and, 
once  there,  who  can  tell  to  what  dangers,  to  what  treachery, 
he  would  have  been  exposed? 

A  single  word  about  Cousin  Benedict.  The  very  day  of 
his  arrival  the  worthy  savant,  after  having  shaken  hands  with 
Mr.  Weldon,  shut  himself  up  in  his  study  and  set  to  work, 
as  if  finishing  a  sentence  interrupted  the  day  before.  Ho 
meditated  an  enormous  work  on  the  "  Hexapodcs  Benedictus,'' 
one  of  the  desiderata  of  entomological  science. 

Tiiere,  in  his  study,  lined  with  insects,  Cousin  Benedict's 
first  action  was  to  find  a  microscope  and  a  pair  of  glasses. 
Great  heaven!  What  a  cry  of  despair  he  uttered  the  first 
time  he  iised  them  to  study  the  single  specimen  furnished 
by  the  African  entomology! 

The  "  Hexapodes  Bencdictus"  was  not  a  hexapode!  It 
was  a  common  spider!  And  if  it  had  but  six  legs,  instead  of 
eight,  it  was  simply  because  the  two  front  legs  were  missing! 
And  if  they  were  missmg,  these  two  legs,  it  was  because,  hi 
taking  it,  Hercules  had,  unfortunately,  broken  them  off! 
Novr,  this  mutilation  reduced  the  pretended  "Hexapodes 
Benedictus"  to  the  condition  of  an  invalid,  and  placed  it  in 
tlie  most  ordinary  class  of  spiders — a  fact  which  Cousin  Ben- 
edict's near-sightedness  had  prevented  him  from  discovering 
sooner.  It  give  him  a  fit  of  sickness,  from  which,  however, 
he  happily  recovered. 

Three  years  after,  little  Jack  was  eight  years  old,  and  Dick 
Sand  made  him  repeat  his  lessons,  while  working  faithfully 
at  his  own  studies.  In  fact,  hardly  was  he  at  home  Avhen, 
realizing  how  ignorant  he  was,  he  had  commenced  to  study 
with  a  kind  of  remorse — like  a  man  who,  for  want  of  knowl- 
edge, finds  himself  unequal  to  his  task. 

"  Yes,"  he  often  repeated;  "  if,  on  board  of  the   'Pilgrim,' 


A    CAPTAIX    AT   FIFTEEN.  323 

I  had  known  all  that  a  sailor  should  know,  what  misfortunes 
we  would  have  escaped!'' 

Thus  spoke  Dick  Sand.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  fin- 
ished with  distinction  his  hydrographical  studies,  and,  hon- 
ored with  a  brevet  by  special  favor,  he  took  command  of  one 
of  Mr.  "Weldon's  vessels. 

See  what  the  little  orphan,  rescued  on  the  beach  at  Sandy 
Hook,  had  obtained  by  his  work  and  conduct.  He  was,  in 
spite  of  his  youth,  surrounded  by  the  esteem,  one  might  say 
the  respect,  of  all  who  knew  him;  but  his  simplicity  and 
modesty  were  so  natural  to  him,  that  he  was  not  aware  of  it. 
He  did  not  even  suspect — although  no  one  could  attribute  to 
him  what  are  called  brilliant  exploits — that  the  firmness, 
courage,  and  fidelity  displayed  in  so  many  trials  had  made  of 
him  a  sort  of  hero. 

Meanwhile,  one  thought  oppressed  him.  In  his  rare  leis- 
ure hours  lie  always  dreamed  of  old  Tom,  of  Bat,  of  Austin, 
and  of  Acteon,  and  of  the  misfortune  for  whicli  he  held  him- 
self responsible.  It  was  also  a  subject  of  real  grief  to  Mrs. 
Wcldon,  tlie  actual  situation  of  her  former  companions  in 
misery.  Mr.  "Weldon,  Dick  Sand,  and  Hercules  moved 
heaven  and  earth  to  find  traces  of  them.  Finally  they  suc- 
ceeded— thanks  to  the  correspondents  which  the  rich  ship- 
owner had  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  It  was  at  Mada- 
gascar— where,  however,  slavery  was  soon  to  be  abolished — 
that  Tom  and  his  companions  had  been  sold.  Dick  Sand 
wished  to  consecrate  his  little  savings  to  ransom  them,  but 
Mr.  Weldon  would  not  hear  of  it.  One  of  liis  correspondents 
arranged  tlie  affair,  and  one  day,  the  15tli  of  Xovember,  1ST7, 
four  blacks  rang  the  bell  of  his  house. 

Tiiey  were  old  Tom,  Bat,  Acteon,  and  Austin.  The  brave 
men,  after  escaping  so  many  dangers,  came  near  Ijcing  stifled, 
on  tliat  day,  l)y  their  delighted  friends. 

Only  poor  ]S'an  was  missing  from  tliose  Avliom  the  '' Bil- 
grini'  had  thrown  on  the  fatal  coast  of  Africa.  But  the 
old  servant  could  not  be  recalled  to  life,  and  neither  could 
Dingo  be  restored  to  them.  Certainly  it  was  miraculous  that 
these  two  alone  had  succumbed  amid  such  adventures. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  on  that  occasion  they  had  a 
festival  at  the  house  of  the  Californian  merchant.     The  best 
toast,  Avh^ch  all  ajijilauded,  was  that  given  by  Mrs.  Wcldon 
to  Dick  Sand,  "To  the  Captain  at  Fiftcenl" 
THE   EKD. 


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